This past Sunday, I did tri #2 -- a sprint up in Oxnard. It was a 500m swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run.
All in all it was a fast course and a lot more fun than the pseudo olympic in san diego. I seriously enjoyed it!
Some Highlights and Notes:
1. I will no longer show up the morning of the race. I was completely a mess, trying to find a tire pump (my crappy one exploded on Coach Brad as he was trying to inflate my tires), forgetting to get a race chip (thanks to brad again, I got one at the last minute), and still fitting in my pre-race ritual (don't ask)
2. I ran into a high school buddy of mine -Doug Thaxton -- married for 10 years with 3 kids. It's funny as i'm so old it took me a few minutes to remember his name. THere was also the memory that in high school we 'hung out', but i was so afraid of boys at that point, I would practically run away if he even tried to hold my hand. Ha. Nothing like racing in your backyard...thank god it was him and not some other people I can think of that i want to avoid the rest of my life.
3. O.M.G. the WAVES!!! A group of us, about 5 minutes into the swim got CLOBBERED by a wave that broke pretty darn far out. All of a sudden, I was tits-up, and missing my goggles (thank god i barely grabbed them). I didn't even see it coming and neither did the 10 dazed people around me. Meanwhile, my coach Erika was practically out the other side already, traipsing up the beach on the way to the bike ride.
4. A 3 mile run = WAY BETTER THAN 6 MILE RUN!!!
5. Technically I could qualify for the "athena" category. This must be remedied. Call me "Athena" and I"ll shove my sport beans where the sun don't shine. *kiss!*
6. I beat the guy dressed as a giant strawberry!!!! I seriously don't like to lose to fruit.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
My "final" email to my Supporters
Well it's been a long time in coming, as I finished the San Diego International Triathlon more than two weeks ago, but I just wanted to let you know that I am in fact still alive. And I finished it -- in under 3 hours, which was my goal!It was an amazing experience and actually harder than I thought it would be, though let's face it, I had dreaded that 6.2 mile run since I started training back in February. The day before the race, we travelled to San Diego, checked in and got our goodie bag. In retrospect, this was probably my favorite part of the weekend - FREE FOOD! ha.
I had a great big pasta dinner with my family that night. I mean BIG. I would train for 5 more months just to eat a meal like that guilt free again. Yay Carbs!!!
After a relatively sleepless night, I woke up at 4:45 and met my team in the lobby, at which point we walked over to the race start. We got our numbers marked in permanent ink on our bodies (i was #963) and did last minute preparations of our transition areas. It was a beautiful day and there was so much energy at the race start, as 1300 people from a range of ages, body types, experience, and strengths waited for their wave (age group) to start. I noted to a friend how exciting it all was....except for the pesky little part of having to swim, bike and run myself. :-)SwimThe pros went off at 6:45 a.m., and my age group was to start at 7:25. All of the 30-35's (holy crap, i'm 30...) in our white swim caps swam out at about 7:20 and were given a one-minute countdown. One girl remarked she liked my pink goggles. I was happy to look to the shore and see that my parents, brother, fiance and friends were on the shore, coffee in hand, all ready to cheer me on. I was excited but nervous and hoping to not come in last like I darn near did at the duathlon I did a couple months ago.
BEEEEEEEEP: I swam and swam and swam and swam and swam....making it one buoy to the next, plodding along. I truly had no idea if I was in first, last, or even necessarily swimming in a straight line. But eventually rounded the last buoy, happy to see that I was even passing several orange caps (people who had started 5 minutes before me in the 25-29 age group). I was also getting passed by some pink caps (35-39), but never mind that. So the Loch Jess Monster stumbled out of the water, exhausted but happy to know I had held my own on the swim. Transition 1 (Swim to bike)Up the ramp (hey, no sand this time!) I ran through the long parking lot till I got to the row of bikes where mine was. I was dizzy and disoriented, but that's to be expected. On with the helmet, socks, and bike shoes, then bike off the rack and running/stumbling it out of the transition area to where I could finally mount and take off. I gave the ole peace sign to my adoring and caffeinated fans before i took off out of T1. BikeI hopped on the bike and took off peddling. We had driven the course the day before, which in retrospect may not have been a GREAT idea. Because I knew it was going to be a loooong slow uphill for more than 3 miles. Of course, slow is different for some than others as several people zoomed past me. Looking at my odometer at the worst points, I was at about 7.1 miles per hour. I sorta figure that below 7.0, I'm walking, so I'm happy I managed to not have to dismount at any point. Once I finally got to the top, it was small rolling hills out to Cabrillo National Monument along the point of San Diego. You have the ocean on both sides and it's really beautiful. This part of the ride was manageable and it was (dare I say) fun doing the loop twice at the top and crossing paths with all my teammates and yelling 'go team!' and knowing we were all accomplishing something together. Some weirdo wearing an old man mask was at the turnaround, not doing much except providing some comic relief for us to keep going. I wonder if he was just a weirdo standing at the turnaround, or a weirdo that the SD Tri people HIRED to stand at the turnaround. The great thing about 3+ miles uphill in the beginning is that it's 3+ miles alllll downhill on the way back. So I had a nice 30+mph pace headed home. I think, though, I actually threw on the brakes a couple times just to avoid the impending doom of the run. I felt strong on the bike after the initial uphill, but you can't believe how ridiculous some of these athletes were and how well conditioned their legs are to handle the bike portion. I spent most of the 5 months ignoring many of the slated practice rides because hey, it's just riding a bike!!! But I realized in the aftermath that my bike was relatively my WEAKEST leg. Coincidence? :)Transition 2I flew down the last hill toward the transition area and saw my mom in pink with the event photographer prompting him to catch me in action (link is below). I have this special thing that happens when I ride after I'm in the water -- my nose runs like crazy -- so I was pleased the photographer could catch all the hot snot action. Seriously, it's like a faucet for the whole 18 miles.
Anyway, at the end of the bike I saw Erik, my dad, bro, and some family friends, gave another very original 'peace' sign, before I hopped off the bike and beelined towards my running gear. Throwing on my running shoes and hat, I took off for the final frontier, begrudgingly, but determined to not start walking until i was AT LEAST out of eyeshot of the crowd. The Evil RunI ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran....oh, and did I mention I ran and ran and ran some more? And then after about a billion years, I saw it......THE ONE MILE MARK!!!! Holy crap. I mean, seriously, it felt like 10. So then my legs started to come back and I ran and ran and ran and ran and ran. After a few minutes, I figured maybe they were only marking off every odd mile. No such luck. After another billion years, there was mile 2. Around this time, I started getting passed. And not just passed, but PASSED. The fun thing about the body markings is that on your back left calf, they put your age. And there's something very disconcerting about the wind that kicks up as you're getting SCHOOLED by calf after calf passing you, mocking you, with the numbers 40, 46, 49, 39, 55, etc going by. Some of these women were amazing and while I cursed them, I also truly admired their fitness and youth and it gave me something to aspire to. My friend Jihyon, 39 with 3 kids, flew by me, told me to pick up my pace ("YOU'RE SMILING, RUN FASTER"!), and suddenly was only a speck in the distance. I apparently smile when I'm horribly miserable and exhausted, by the way.
I had to walk some. I ran/walked/ran/walked. ran, ran, ran, ran. Dumped several dixie cups of water over my head, just because it seemed like the cool thing to do. Until I realized I was wearing all white. So along the water, through a little marina area, then through a dreaded mile+ asphalt jungle behind a car rental place near the airport I went. It was lonely and sad there. I think I saw a skull and tumbleweed on the ground next to an empty gatorade cup. But I made it and then only a couple more miles to go. It was really hard between miles 1 and 6 (yup, pretty much all of it), but I reminded myself that if my mom could do a year of chemo, I could run for an hour.
After mile 5, it was an eternity, and I wondered if I would see a mile 6 marker, or just the finish line (at mile 6.2), because that 6 marker was nowhere to be found. I did find a homeless man in a wheelchair that yelled 'looking good, honey!' and attempted to wheel alongside me, though. And then there it was. I came around the corner and I saw the balloons and heard music and saw a crowd of people and the finish -- about .1 miles and a minute away. And the weirdest thing happened: I got all choked up and started to hyperventilate -- my chest closed up and i was sure I was having an asthma attack (which was odd because I was fine up to that point) I had to remind myself that everything was ok and try to deepen my breaths to make it to the end. I saw about 20 of my teammates and my family along the side and I put my arms up in victory for a photo record of all the fun I was having, and stomped through the finish line onto the final "X" that records your time...
It was surreal. And then I broke down sobbing and hyperventilating and had the first panic attack I've ever had in my life. Who knows why. Maybe it was the 5 months coming to an end, or feeling like I had accomplished something big, or fatigue, or let down, or excitement. Whatever it was, it was both bizarre and amazing. Once I could breathe, and got tons of hugs from my family and Erik, it hit me. I'M FREAKIN TIRED!!!!!!!!! and?.....and?.......I did it. It's over. I'm a triathlete.
My final time was 2 hours 41 minutes 51 seconds (2:41:51). I finished in the bottom 3rd of my age division, but not last! I came in top 1/2 in the swim, which was a big improvement, and came in within minutes of several other people on my team, even beating a couple I figured would blow me out of the water. I did the run in 1:05, even with all the pissing and moaning. So there were small victories within the overall victory. Not that it's a race, but...well, it is. And I'm competitive. And I know what I need to work on now.
I could keep going on all about the next 24 hours of extreme fatigue, and the relative lack of activity since then. But instead I'm going to leap forward a little to say that I'm doing a mini-Tri in Oxnard this weekend with many of my teammates. I'm still lightly training, and planning to start hitting it harder in order to do a full olympic distance in September (LA Triathlon September 7th). And while I don't expect to turn pro anytime soon, to be able to start competing against myself, and make positive strides, is exciting to think about. Because, you know I'm a triathlete now! (as opposed to someone who did one triathlon,heh).
To anyone who thinks even SLIGHTLY that this is something you'd want to do, and you have a nagging voice telling you you can't do it...WRONG. You can. You just can! I strongly strongly recommend the Team-in-Training program. If you have any questions, you can ask me anytime. To be trained in the way they train you, to have the support of coaches and to make a whole new set of like-minded friends, is a gift. To be able to also give back while doing it is a bigger gift. To know you have people like YOU offering support and donations to the endeavor is yet another amazing bonus. So Two Thumbs Up for TNT.
And for you.
So now maybe my next blog will have to be named bigredDIDatriathlon.blogspot.com?
I had a great big pasta dinner with my family that night. I mean BIG. I would train for 5 more months just to eat a meal like that guilt free again. Yay Carbs!!!
After a relatively sleepless night, I woke up at 4:45 and met my team in the lobby, at which point we walked over to the race start. We got our numbers marked in permanent ink on our bodies (i was #963) and did last minute preparations of our transition areas. It was a beautiful day and there was so much energy at the race start, as 1300 people from a range of ages, body types, experience, and strengths waited for their wave (age group) to start. I noted to a friend how exciting it all was....except for the pesky little part of having to swim, bike and run myself. :-)SwimThe pros went off at 6:45 a.m., and my age group was to start at 7:25. All of the 30-35's (holy crap, i'm 30...) in our white swim caps swam out at about 7:20 and were given a one-minute countdown. One girl remarked she liked my pink goggles. I was happy to look to the shore and see that my parents, brother, fiance and friends were on the shore, coffee in hand, all ready to cheer me on. I was excited but nervous and hoping to not come in last like I darn near did at the duathlon I did a couple months ago.
BEEEEEEEEP: I swam and swam and swam and swam and swam....making it one buoy to the next, plodding along. I truly had no idea if I was in first, last, or even necessarily swimming in a straight line. But eventually rounded the last buoy, happy to see that I was even passing several orange caps (people who had started 5 minutes before me in the 25-29 age group). I was also getting passed by some pink caps (35-39), but never mind that. So the Loch Jess Monster stumbled out of the water, exhausted but happy to know I had held my own on the swim. Transition 1 (Swim to bike)Up the ramp (hey, no sand this time!) I ran through the long parking lot till I got to the row of bikes where mine was. I was dizzy and disoriented, but that's to be expected. On with the helmet, socks, and bike shoes, then bike off the rack and running/stumbling it out of the transition area to where I could finally mount and take off. I gave the ole peace sign to my adoring and caffeinated fans before i took off out of T1. BikeI hopped on the bike and took off peddling. We had driven the course the day before, which in retrospect may not have been a GREAT idea. Because I knew it was going to be a loooong slow uphill for more than 3 miles. Of course, slow is different for some than others as several people zoomed past me. Looking at my odometer at the worst points, I was at about 7.1 miles per hour. I sorta figure that below 7.0, I'm walking, so I'm happy I managed to not have to dismount at any point. Once I finally got to the top, it was small rolling hills out to Cabrillo National Monument along the point of San Diego. You have the ocean on both sides and it's really beautiful. This part of the ride was manageable and it was (dare I say) fun doing the loop twice at the top and crossing paths with all my teammates and yelling 'go team!' and knowing we were all accomplishing something together. Some weirdo wearing an old man mask was at the turnaround, not doing much except providing some comic relief for us to keep going. I wonder if he was just a weirdo standing at the turnaround, or a weirdo that the SD Tri people HIRED to stand at the turnaround. The great thing about 3+ miles uphill in the beginning is that it's 3+ miles alllll downhill on the way back. So I had a nice 30+mph pace headed home. I think, though, I actually threw on the brakes a couple times just to avoid the impending doom of the run. I felt strong on the bike after the initial uphill, but you can't believe how ridiculous some of these athletes were and how well conditioned their legs are to handle the bike portion. I spent most of the 5 months ignoring many of the slated practice rides because hey, it's just riding a bike!!! But I realized in the aftermath that my bike was relatively my WEAKEST leg. Coincidence? :)Transition 2I flew down the last hill toward the transition area and saw my mom in pink with the event photographer prompting him to catch me in action (link is below). I have this special thing that happens when I ride after I'm in the water -- my nose runs like crazy -- so I was pleased the photographer could catch all the hot snot action. Seriously, it's like a faucet for the whole 18 miles.
Anyway, at the end of the bike I saw Erik, my dad, bro, and some family friends, gave another very original 'peace' sign, before I hopped off the bike and beelined towards my running gear. Throwing on my running shoes and hat, I took off for the final frontier, begrudgingly, but determined to not start walking until i was AT LEAST out of eyeshot of the crowd. The Evil RunI ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran....oh, and did I mention I ran and ran and ran some more? And then after about a billion years, I saw it......THE ONE MILE MARK!!!! Holy crap. I mean, seriously, it felt like 10. So then my legs started to come back and I ran and ran and ran and ran and ran. After a few minutes, I figured maybe they were only marking off every odd mile. No such luck. After another billion years, there was mile 2. Around this time, I started getting passed. And not just passed, but PASSED. The fun thing about the body markings is that on your back left calf, they put your age. And there's something very disconcerting about the wind that kicks up as you're getting SCHOOLED by calf after calf passing you, mocking you, with the numbers 40, 46, 49, 39, 55, etc going by. Some of these women were amazing and while I cursed them, I also truly admired their fitness and youth and it gave me something to aspire to. My friend Jihyon, 39 with 3 kids, flew by me, told me to pick up my pace ("YOU'RE SMILING, RUN FASTER"!), and suddenly was only a speck in the distance. I apparently smile when I'm horribly miserable and exhausted, by the way.
I had to walk some. I ran/walked/ran/walked. ran, ran, ran, ran. Dumped several dixie cups of water over my head, just because it seemed like the cool thing to do. Until I realized I was wearing all white. So along the water, through a little marina area, then through a dreaded mile+ asphalt jungle behind a car rental place near the airport I went. It was lonely and sad there. I think I saw a skull and tumbleweed on the ground next to an empty gatorade cup. But I made it and then only a couple more miles to go. It was really hard between miles 1 and 6 (yup, pretty much all of it), but I reminded myself that if my mom could do a year of chemo, I could run for an hour.
After mile 5, it was an eternity, and I wondered if I would see a mile 6 marker, or just the finish line (at mile 6.2), because that 6 marker was nowhere to be found. I did find a homeless man in a wheelchair that yelled 'looking good, honey!' and attempted to wheel alongside me, though. And then there it was. I came around the corner and I saw the balloons and heard music and saw a crowd of people and the finish -- about .1 miles and a minute away. And the weirdest thing happened: I got all choked up and started to hyperventilate -- my chest closed up and i was sure I was having an asthma attack (which was odd because I was fine up to that point) I had to remind myself that everything was ok and try to deepen my breaths to make it to the end. I saw about 20 of my teammates and my family along the side and I put my arms up in victory for a photo record of all the fun I was having, and stomped through the finish line onto the final "X" that records your time...
It was surreal. And then I broke down sobbing and hyperventilating and had the first panic attack I've ever had in my life. Who knows why. Maybe it was the 5 months coming to an end, or feeling like I had accomplished something big, or fatigue, or let down, or excitement. Whatever it was, it was both bizarre and amazing. Once I could breathe, and got tons of hugs from my family and Erik, it hit me. I'M FREAKIN TIRED!!!!!!!!! and?.....and?.......I did it. It's over. I'm a triathlete.
My final time was 2 hours 41 minutes 51 seconds (2:41:51). I finished in the bottom 3rd of my age division, but not last! I came in top 1/2 in the swim, which was a big improvement, and came in within minutes of several other people on my team, even beating a couple I figured would blow me out of the water. I did the run in 1:05, even with all the pissing and moaning. So there were small victories within the overall victory. Not that it's a race, but...well, it is. And I'm competitive. And I know what I need to work on now.
I could keep going on all about the next 24 hours of extreme fatigue, and the relative lack of activity since then. But instead I'm going to leap forward a little to say that I'm doing a mini-Tri in Oxnard this weekend with many of my teammates. I'm still lightly training, and planning to start hitting it harder in order to do a full olympic distance in September (LA Triathlon September 7th). And while I don't expect to turn pro anytime soon, to be able to start competing against myself, and make positive strides, is exciting to think about. Because, you know I'm a triathlete now! (as opposed to someone who did one triathlon,heh).
To anyone who thinks even SLIGHTLY that this is something you'd want to do, and you have a nagging voice telling you you can't do it...WRONG. You can. You just can! I strongly strongly recommend the Team-in-Training program. If you have any questions, you can ask me anytime. To be trained in the way they train you, to have the support of coaches and to make a whole new set of like-minded friends, is a gift. To be able to also give back while doing it is a bigger gift. To know you have people like YOU offering support and donations to the endeavor is yet another amazing bonus. So Two Thumbs Up for TNT.
And for you.
So now maybe my next blog will have to be named bigredDIDatriathlon.blogspot.com?
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Race Results!!!
Well, I did it! I am officially a triathlete. This past weekend I did the San Diego International Triathlon, a 1000meter swim, a 30k bike, and a 10k run. (translated that is a .6 mile swim, 18.6 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) I'm going to write a whole play by play on the experience in my other blog (bigreddoesatriathlon.blogspot.com) when I’m not quite so hungover from an insane karaoke night, but I really for now just want to report the results, that weren’t as slow as I had anticipated!
In my age group , I finished 50 out of 68 women…ok, so it was definitely in the back of the pack, but there are good things to report within that stat, that I’m proud of, and it also gives me a way to see where my weaknesses are for further training.
First off are the numbers.
Overall time: 2:41:51 (773rd place in the entire field – out of about 900 doing the full distance)
Swim: 19:26 (663rd place)
Bike: 1:08 (764 place)
Run: 1:06:58 (785 place)
My transition from swim to bike took 3:52
My transition from bike to run took 2:59 (these figures include running all the way into the lot where the bike rack is and back out)…
The good things to report are these:
My swim time was in the top half of my age group and I even passed some of the people in the wave before us (they send us out every 5 minutes based on our age). I finished 3+ minutes faster than the last swim race I had done 2 months ago, in under 20 minutes!! You can see that if I had kept up the pace of my swim thru the bike and run, I would have finished 663rd instead of 773rd (I lost a bit on the 2nd 2 legs, ahem….).
The bike was ok – I had no idea how I would rank in the pack. The run was about as horrible as I expected, but to finish 6.2 miles in just over an hour, doing slightly slower than 10 minute miles is really cool, considering I couldn’t run a full mile 4.5 months ago when I started all this.
Compared to my teammates doing the race, I was surprised to learn how close in time I was to some of the people I thought were in considerably better shape.
Overall, I finished, I survived, and I can see that I need to start hammering it harder on the bike and run – building my legs and fitness up for those events, as well as improving on my swim strokes to be more efficient and strong when I emerge from the water.
Anyway, I’m proud and happy to have accomplished this goal and milestone and am looking forward to keeping at it!! Thanks for the support from those of you who have watched me on this journey!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Games Coaches Play
"Ok, now do 5 x 100meters."
Hey WAIT, that's 500 meters...
Yeah, that 10 seconds rest in between doesn't really delineate anything to me. A wolf in sheeps' clothing is still a wolf!
6 x 25 = 150meters
You can't fool me!
5x50 = 250
mmmhmmmmmm
Hey WAIT, that's 500 meters...
Yeah, that 10 seconds rest in between doesn't really delineate anything to me. A wolf in sheeps' clothing is still a wolf!
6 x 25 = 150meters
You can't fool me!
5x50 = 250
mmmhmmmmmm
TAPER WEEK & Last Swim Practice
I just got back from our last swim practice of the season. Four and a half months flew by and all that's left between me and my first triathlon is a few 'taper' days of light workouts before I take off for San Diego.
Last week I wrote about some trepidation about my training, but after this weekends workouts, I'm sure I'll get through it, maybe even with a smile on my face. On Saturday, we did a light swim, practicing the in-water start. This race doesn't start from the shore, rather, we go out a distance and all bob around in the water until our wave (age group) is signaled to start. So after a light 10 minute swim, we did about 18 miles on PCH on our bikes, practicing transitions, and then did a 2 mile run. It was hot as HELL, and we didn't start practice as early as maybe we should have either. 9 a.m. was when we got in the water so by the run around 11, it was boiling and that 2 miles was really really rough. A quick dunk in the water was sooooo nice, and after I left the beach at noon, it already felt like a full day.
Sunday was equally as eventful. I went to bed early, or actually my body forced me into bed early b/c I could barely hold my head up...and was up at 6:30 to go down to Manhattan beach for my first LA Tri Club swim. About 100 people were there, and I was happy to finally find some TNT'ers to buddy up with. Jihan and I ended up swimming a bit over a mile together, slowly but surely, around the manhattan beach pier and back to the beach. It felt great afterwards. It was just such a beautiful day, amazing really, and I can't imagine why I had never done that swim before. Now I had 'accidentally' forgotten my running shoes for a 'fun run' afterwards. But being the incredible athlete and slavedriver that she is, teammate Jiyhan convinced me a 4 mile run barefoot along the beach was the best thing to do. So we did it.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of running around in my bathing suit, or RUNNING in my bathing suit, but i did it. 4 miles with 3 of my teammates to the hermosa beach pier and back, in the boiling hot sun, with a couple quick dunks in the water along the way. Breakfast at Uncle Bill's pancake house afterwards was the perfect chaser.
So after a great weekend of training, and a light run yesterday, I am now in taper. Granted, I have sorta been tapering for 6 weeks :), but this time it's on the schedule. And I'm actually getting excited. On top of that is some bittersweet sadness. I found out Coach Brad won't be at our race and that truly is sad news because he has been so instrumental in all of our progress. tonight my teammates are at the bar, but honestly I couldn't bring myself to go. It just seems too soon and kinda sad to be reminiscing already.
But it really was an incredible season and as I start to slow it down in order to be ready on race day, I will reflect, as Brad suggested in an email today, on how far I have come...from not being able to run a mile to being able to run 6...from not being able to breathe left in swimming to being able to breathe in both directions...from having major saddle sores biking, to building up calluses :)....
more reflection to come...
Last week I wrote about some trepidation about my training, but after this weekends workouts, I'm sure I'll get through it, maybe even with a smile on my face. On Saturday, we did a light swim, practicing the in-water start. This race doesn't start from the shore, rather, we go out a distance and all bob around in the water until our wave (age group) is signaled to start. So after a light 10 minute swim, we did about 18 miles on PCH on our bikes, practicing transitions, and then did a 2 mile run. It was hot as HELL, and we didn't start practice as early as maybe we should have either. 9 a.m. was when we got in the water so by the run around 11, it was boiling and that 2 miles was really really rough. A quick dunk in the water was sooooo nice, and after I left the beach at noon, it already felt like a full day.
Sunday was equally as eventful. I went to bed early, or actually my body forced me into bed early b/c I could barely hold my head up...and was up at 6:30 to go down to Manhattan beach for my first LA Tri Club swim. About 100 people were there, and I was happy to finally find some TNT'ers to buddy up with. Jihan and I ended up swimming a bit over a mile together, slowly but surely, around the manhattan beach pier and back to the beach. It felt great afterwards. It was just such a beautiful day, amazing really, and I can't imagine why I had never done that swim before. Now I had 'accidentally' forgotten my running shoes for a 'fun run' afterwards. But being the incredible athlete and slavedriver that she is, teammate Jiyhan convinced me a 4 mile run barefoot along the beach was the best thing to do. So we did it.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of running around in my bathing suit, or RUNNING in my bathing suit, but i did it. 4 miles with 3 of my teammates to the hermosa beach pier and back, in the boiling hot sun, with a couple quick dunks in the water along the way. Breakfast at Uncle Bill's pancake house afterwards was the perfect chaser.
So after a great weekend of training, and a light run yesterday, I am now in taper. Granted, I have sorta been tapering for 6 weeks :), but this time it's on the schedule. And I'm actually getting excited. On top of that is some bittersweet sadness. I found out Coach Brad won't be at our race and that truly is sad news because he has been so instrumental in all of our progress. tonight my teammates are at the bar, but honestly I couldn't bring myself to go. It just seems too soon and kinda sad to be reminiscing already.
But it really was an incredible season and as I start to slow it down in order to be ready on race day, I will reflect, as Brad suggested in an email today, on how far I have come...from not being able to run a mile to being able to run 6...from not being able to breathe left in swimming to being able to breathe in both directions...from having major saddle sores biking, to building up calluses :)....
more reflection to come...
Friday, June 20, 2008
It's all coming to a head...
Hopefully that head will be crossing the finish line.
But to give a quick update b/c i'm too tired and hot to elaborate too much.
I graduated from grad school a week ago. I would say that my workouts have been less than stellar if they happen at all.
I ran 6 miles with my brother Dan last Saturday and had a blast though was so SO tired the next day.
This past week I was in New York. I ran a couple miles one day and walked a lot, but there was no swim, no bike ride and quite frankly I feel pretty guilty about it. This was our final build week and i've blown it.
Tomorrow we'll have our last Saturday team practice. I feel sad, disconnected, and wonder where the last 4.5 months went?!? We are doing a mini-triathlon, and then if I don't feel too antisocial, will be hanging at the beach with everyone. It's hard not to feel a bit out of it when most of our team went to, and had a ridiculous blast, in Maui for their triathlon. But It'll still be nice to be around some new friends again, after several practices away.
Sunday, hopefully i can do the Manhattan beach morning swim and whatever else is on the schedule and then things wind down till the race next Sunday. Mellow practices and 'recovery', though I've done so little in the past 2 weeks, and the prior setbacks with my neck that if anything, I need to recvoer from all the crap i've been eating.
Anyway, I'm getting nervous and just hoping my body can hold up. Today i'm going to go spend a $200 gift certificate at my favorite women's sports store and maybe the retail therapy will get my head back in it.
But to give a quick update b/c i'm too tired and hot to elaborate too much.
I graduated from grad school a week ago. I would say that my workouts have been less than stellar if they happen at all.
I ran 6 miles with my brother Dan last Saturday and had a blast though was so SO tired the next day.
This past week I was in New York. I ran a couple miles one day and walked a lot, but there was no swim, no bike ride and quite frankly I feel pretty guilty about it. This was our final build week and i've blown it.
Tomorrow we'll have our last Saturday team practice. I feel sad, disconnected, and wonder where the last 4.5 months went?!? We are doing a mini-triathlon, and then if I don't feel too antisocial, will be hanging at the beach with everyone. It's hard not to feel a bit out of it when most of our team went to, and had a ridiculous blast, in Maui for their triathlon. But It'll still be nice to be around some new friends again, after several practices away.
Sunday, hopefully i can do the Manhattan beach morning swim and whatever else is on the schedule and then things wind down till the race next Sunday. Mellow practices and 'recovery', though I've done so little in the past 2 weeks, and the prior setbacks with my neck that if anything, I need to recvoer from all the crap i've been eating.
Anyway, I'm getting nervous and just hoping my body can hold up. Today i'm going to go spend a $200 gift certificate at my favorite women's sports store and maybe the retail therapy will get my head back in it.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Quickie...
I'm busy trying to finish the one thing that stand between me and graduation -- one STUPID little paper that I abhor more than anything -- so this'll be quick. I''ll send a good update monday.
I started working out again last saturday after 10 days off due to neck issues. I did the swim tuesday, a 45 minute run (4+ miles) yesterday, and today did a 60 minute spinning class followed by a 10 minute run (6 mph). We had our final team dinner and a majority of our team headed off to Maui today for their race on saturday. So now it's just our l ittle pack of San Diego people left for one more month...no wait, LESS. :)
I'll elaborate o n all of the above in a few days.
peace and loose necks to all,
Jess
I started working out again last saturday after 10 days off due to neck issues. I did the swim tuesday, a 45 minute run (4+ miles) yesterday, and today did a 60 minute spinning class followed by a 10 minute run (6 mph). We had our final team dinner and a majority of our team headed off to Maui today for their race on saturday. So now it's just our l ittle pack of San Diego people left for one more month...no wait, LESS. :)
I'll elaborate o n all of the above in a few days.
peace and loose necks to all,
Jess
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tomorrow will be One Month Away
I haven't worked out in a week -- my neck is finally feeling somewhat better and I will get back out there tomorrow and do SOMEthing... but something is lost when you take this much time off. You doubt yourself, your commitment, your body's capacity to perform. I'm scared that the athlete who I used to be has faded away into the oblivion of getting older. If my neck is like this at 30, what will it be at 60? It's a frightening prospect, especially since I hoped that all this working out would strengthen things, not make it worse.
I also wonder if my head is just too big for my neck. But then I think I have a thick neck, which should be able to accommodate such a large pumpkin head. :-)
I also wonder if my head is just too big for my neck. But then I think I have a thick neck, which should be able to accommodate such a large pumpkin head. :-)
Friday, May 23, 2008
I've got a major stiffie...
My neck is still pretty bad - it's painful and stiff. The chiropractor definitely helped but i would say that it'll be at LEAST one more day and maybe the whole weekend before i try to work out again.
Maybe I can do something light tomorrow; we'll see.
Maybe I can do something light tomorrow; we'll see.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Huge Pain in the Neck
I suffered a pretty big setback today. Last night a s I was adjusting my pillow in bed, my whole neck just seized up. It's not the first time it has happened, but every time it does it just throws my whole world into 'pause'. It's excruciating and incapacitating, not to mention expensive (already went to the chiro this morning for a cool $95).
I'm about to begin the ice/heat/ice/heat process for the rest of the day. I have made myself as comfortable as possible on the couch, but it is all relative -- the pain hasn't stopped. I guess I will use this time to continue to read/work on the worst paper of my master's program yet, and pray that the adjustment today helps enough to get me back out training in a day or two. Thank god there's leftover vicodin in the house. I may also go in for some lidocaine injections if my stupid HMO orthopedic doctor can get me in within the century.
UGH. UGH.
I'm about to begin the ice/heat/ice/heat process for the rest of the day. I have made myself as comfortable as possible on the couch, but it is all relative -- the pain hasn't stopped. I guess I will use this time to continue to read/work on the worst paper of my master's program yet, and pray that the adjustment today helps enough to get me back out training in a day or two. Thank god there's leftover vicodin in the house. I may also go in for some lidocaine injections if my stupid HMO orthopedic doctor can get me in within the century.
UGH. UGH.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Beached Whale
I seem to be missing a little thing called the "whoosh". Coming off a somewhat disappointing swim on sunday, Brad kept close track of my swimming today and well, it turns out I just am not that aerodynamic...or hydrodynamic....It's kinda like pushing a fire hydrant thru the water -- speed is not exactly the result.
My main issue is breathing. I know...small detail. But seriously, though I've learned to breathe in a systematic way every 3 strokes, both to the left AND right, it is a huge gasping desperate attempt for air every single time. Sometimes there's a wheezing noise that accompanies it. Occasionally, I drink a fair amount of water...and whether it has chlorine or salt as the primary ingredient, they both suck.
Turns out I'm a flat swimmer, or at least I just coined that term. I tend not to rotate and because of this, I'm lacking graceful, smooth long strokes, turning to the left and right with ease to get my face fully out of the water to take in oxygen. I lack the "whoosh".
So today Brad kept telling me to keep it smooth, to lengthen, to turn and keep my reaching arm out instead of windmilling desperately to make it to the other side of the pool. Finally at the end of the workout, I was told that I have to now start every practice with 400 meters of 1-arms/regular stroke...not my idea of fun. But I must be broken of my bad habits.
Now to add insult to injury, Brad had me get up on the deck. I asked "are you about to publicly humiliate me?" He said "no". But then he had me lay on my stomach on the deck and practice rolling on each side one at a time, practicing my stroke. Yeah, there's nothing quite like being ass up in broad daylight. Not that i don't LOVE my ass (dripping sarcasm), but I am kinda that person that yells 'HEY LOOK, IT'S ELVIS!' and when everyone turns to look, I rip off my clothes and cannonball into the pool. So I wasn't thrilled, but i picked up what Brad was putting down. And I realize that the bad form is only holding me back.
I think I might start a new olympic sport. Power deck swimming. Ass up.
My main issue is breathing. I know...small detail. But seriously, though I've learned to breathe in a systematic way every 3 strokes, both to the left AND right, it is a huge gasping desperate attempt for air every single time. Sometimes there's a wheezing noise that accompanies it. Occasionally, I drink a fair amount of water...and whether it has chlorine or salt as the primary ingredient, they both suck.
Turns out I'm a flat swimmer, or at least I just coined that term. I tend not to rotate and because of this, I'm lacking graceful, smooth long strokes, turning to the left and right with ease to get my face fully out of the water to take in oxygen. I lack the "whoosh".
So today Brad kept telling me to keep it smooth, to lengthen, to turn and keep my reaching arm out instead of windmilling desperately to make it to the other side of the pool. Finally at the end of the workout, I was told that I have to now start every practice with 400 meters of 1-arms/regular stroke...not my idea of fun. But I must be broken of my bad habits.
Now to add insult to injury, Brad had me get up on the deck. I asked "are you about to publicly humiliate me?" He said "no". But then he had me lay on my stomach on the deck and practice rolling on each side one at a time, practicing my stroke. Yeah, there's nothing quite like being ass up in broad daylight. Not that i don't LOVE my ass (dripping sarcasm), but I am kinda that person that yells 'HEY LOOK, IT'S ELVIS!' and when everyone turns to look, I rip off my clothes and cannonball into the pool. So I wasn't thrilled, but i picked up what Brad was putting down. And I realize that the bad form is only holding me back.
I think I might start a new olympic sport. Power deck swimming. Ass up.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Reality Check
Yesterday I competed in my first multi-sport race. I spent about 1/2 hour in bed between 6 and 6:30 a.m. debating sleeping in till noon, or getting down to the beach by 7 to register for the 9:00 a.m. Aquathlon. This one time, ambition won out and the comfy bed lost its bid to seduce me.
So I arrived for the event, wetsuit and running gear in tow, exhausted but also kinda...just KINDA...excited. This event is called "Playa Del Run" and consists of 1000m swim and a 5k(3.1. mile) run. Encouraged by the fact some of my teammates would be there, I thought it would be a good practice thing to do, to experience swimming in the water with 150+ other people, something I haven't done yet.
Around 8:45 a.m., after chitchat, nervous talk with some of my other fellow novices, and readjusting my transition area 67 times, we walked over to the start on the beach. I was squeezed 1/2 way into my wetsuit and oh MAN was it boiling hot in that sun. I actually couldn't wait to get in the water. In the little holding pen, I saw Erik running towards me, looking for me in the sea of people...I was happy he had made it to witness this hot mess compete in her first race.
Then the whistle went off and we barrel-assed towards the sea...the course was straight in towards a huge yellow buoy, hang a right, go down to the 3rd buoy then straight back in. Initially, I started in the back, but dove in with gusto. I'm nothing if not competitive. Turns out I'm also slow. Though around the first turn there were tons of us, by the final turn towards the beach, I suddenly felt oddly alone. I figured I was either kicking everyone's ass, or somewhere in the middleof the ocean about to do a Tom Hanks scene from Castaway. Turns out I was the latter...I struggled out of the water feeling like I weighed about 400 pounds, and turned aroudn to see VERY few people behind me in the water....Erik was there cheering me on as I ran up the beach and I managed to gasp "am i last?"...He said "no"...ok, phew....
Up to transition area, got my wetsuit off, put on the shoes and hat and took off. The 1st 1/2 of the run sucked. It was a 2-loop course so as I came around the end of the first loop, some guy was like '2 MORE MINUTES!!!'. I snorted b/c while i'm sure it WAS 2 more minutes for some people who had easily lapped me, I still had at least another 15. If I had had the strength I would have clotheslined that guy. So I ran and ran and ran some more, but did not stop once to walk, so that's SOMEthing. I finally got to the end and crossed just as I saw the time 55:45 flash. I actually did the 5K in 33 minutes, which considering it was preceded by my first swim race of 22 minutes, is not half bad for ME.
Ok, so Erik put a fake microphone in my face at the end and said 'how do you feel?' Other than wanting to face plant in the sand, I had a mix of emotions. On one hand I was psyched I did it in under an hour. On the other hand, I was really surprised at how slow my swim was. I'm not sure I pushed myself as hard as I could go, because I knew there was a run behind it, but I did think I'd do better. I KNOW I hate the run and suck at it, but I was unpleasantly surprised about the swim. Also, realizing that I would have to do double the run at the tri in june worries me....I think I really need to step up the running practice and improve on my swimming speed.
So preliminarily, I came in 168th out of 178th overall (so yeah, ALMOST last), but that doesn't include some people who didn't finish. I was 150th in the swim and 149th in the run timewise. And I think it was a pretty seasoned crowd of athletes.
The sunny side of the street is that this shows I have lots of room for improvement, which is something to look forward to. I really need to get some weight off -- I"m sure even 10 pounds would help enormously. It's been 3.5 months of training...really getting BACK in half-way decent shape. once the baseline is established, I know I can do a lot better.
The rest of my day consisted of sleep and whining about my sore body. But still, I'm really glad I did it as it helped me see exactly where I stand (and swim and run) in all this stuff.
So I arrived for the event, wetsuit and running gear in tow, exhausted but also kinda...just KINDA...excited. This event is called "Playa Del Run" and consists of 1000m swim and a 5k(3.1. mile) run. Encouraged by the fact some of my teammates would be there, I thought it would be a good practice thing to do, to experience swimming in the water with 150+ other people, something I haven't done yet.
Around 8:45 a.m., after chitchat, nervous talk with some of my other fellow novices, and readjusting my transition area 67 times, we walked over to the start on the beach. I was squeezed 1/2 way into my wetsuit and oh MAN was it boiling hot in that sun. I actually couldn't wait to get in the water. In the little holding pen, I saw Erik running towards me, looking for me in the sea of people...I was happy he had made it to witness this hot mess compete in her first race.
Then the whistle went off and we barrel-assed towards the sea...the course was straight in towards a huge yellow buoy, hang a right, go down to the 3rd buoy then straight back in. Initially, I started in the back, but dove in with gusto. I'm nothing if not competitive. Turns out I'm also slow. Though around the first turn there were tons of us, by the final turn towards the beach, I suddenly felt oddly alone. I figured I was either kicking everyone's ass, or somewhere in the middleof the ocean about to do a Tom Hanks scene from Castaway. Turns out I was the latter...I struggled out of the water feeling like I weighed about 400 pounds, and turned aroudn to see VERY few people behind me in the water....Erik was there cheering me on as I ran up the beach and I managed to gasp "am i last?"...He said "no"...ok, phew....
Up to transition area, got my wetsuit off, put on the shoes and hat and took off. The 1st 1/2 of the run sucked. It was a 2-loop course so as I came around the end of the first loop, some guy was like '2 MORE MINUTES!!!'. I snorted b/c while i'm sure it WAS 2 more minutes for some people who had easily lapped me, I still had at least another 15. If I had had the strength I would have clotheslined that guy. So I ran and ran and ran some more, but did not stop once to walk, so that's SOMEthing. I finally got to the end and crossed just as I saw the time 55:45 flash. I actually did the 5K in 33 minutes, which considering it was preceded by my first swim race of 22 minutes, is not half bad for ME.
Ok, so Erik put a fake microphone in my face at the end and said 'how do you feel?' Other than wanting to face plant in the sand, I had a mix of emotions. On one hand I was psyched I did it in under an hour. On the other hand, I was really surprised at how slow my swim was. I'm not sure I pushed myself as hard as I could go, because I knew there was a run behind it, but I did think I'd do better. I KNOW I hate the run and suck at it, but I was unpleasantly surprised about the swim. Also, realizing that I would have to do double the run at the tri in june worries me....I think I really need to step up the running practice and improve on my swimming speed.
So preliminarily, I came in 168th out of 178th overall (so yeah, ALMOST last), but that doesn't include some people who didn't finish. I was 150th in the swim and 149th in the run timewise. And I think it was a pretty seasoned crowd of athletes.
The sunny side of the street is that this shows I have lots of room for improvement, which is something to look forward to. I really need to get some weight off -- I"m sure even 10 pounds would help enormously. It's been 3.5 months of training...really getting BACK in half-way decent shape. once the baseline is established, I know I can do a lot better.
The rest of my day consisted of sleep and whining about my sore body. But still, I'm really glad I did it as it helped me see exactly where I stand (and swim and run) in all this stuff.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Sand in the Crack
Today I did my first REAL ocean swim...like, there were waves and everything. The last 2 times we've been in the water it's been in the nasty disgusting Long Beach closed bay -- basically standing water, with the taste and after-taste to match. So it was refreshing and really a lot of fun to go out into the big ocean.
When we got in at 7:15 a.m. for our first 500 m loop, the waves were small. We learned to dive under the waves and hold onto the bottom so we don't get pulled backwards. Then once you're past the surf you swim and swim and swim, realize you're nowhere near the target buoy, double back, and then finally get where you're going. Heading back to shore, with a north-moving current, you have to swim south and you sorta maybe end up where you were supposed to get out of the water. AFter running back to the original spot, we did it again, only this time the waves were large enough that there were surfers everywhere. Four of us manned up and did a second 500 loop (even though we still maintain our guppie status), and finally made it back in. Coming in is the fun part -- there is *some* swimming involved but far more body surfing and baywatch running (in slow motion, of course) through the surf.
Afterwards we sat in the sand for a little while and jumped around in the waves...until mean coach Brad made us go bike and run. Ok, so he's not mean, but maybe was a little grumpy and hungover after celebrating his 40th birthday yesterday. If anyone gives meaning to the saying "40 is the new 30", it's Brad - awesome guy, coach, and definitely inspiring and great to work with.
Ok, so we took off on the bike ride, through venice and around the marina -- about a 10 mile loop. Even though I got lost briefly, somehow I ended up back with the pack by the end.
I usually spend most of the ride dreading the run. No matter how well I handle the swim and bike, having that most hated part of the day hanging over my head really bums me out. I am trying to start saying "I LOVE running" as much as possible, hoping it will improve the experience...but goddammit, i HATE running. wait, no...i mean i LOVE running.. :)
We transitioned to the 5K run, which I apparently extended a few tenths of a mile by going too far, but whatever, I probably needed it. I ran pretty much all of it and actually had a thought near the end that I would do just fine at the actual triathlon. So yeah, a good day...er, morning. While I cursed Brad at 6 a.m. for making us be in the ocean by 7, with the heat like it was by 10:00 a.m., I'd say he knows what he's doing.
Ok, i'm tired now. Time for the 4th leg...remember? it's "nap" - no equipment required.
*snore*
When we got in at 7:15 a.m. for our first 500 m loop, the waves were small. We learned to dive under the waves and hold onto the bottom so we don't get pulled backwards. Then once you're past the surf you swim and swim and swim, realize you're nowhere near the target buoy, double back, and then finally get where you're going. Heading back to shore, with a north-moving current, you have to swim south and you sorta maybe end up where you were supposed to get out of the water. AFter running back to the original spot, we did it again, only this time the waves were large enough that there were surfers everywhere. Four of us manned up and did a second 500 loop (even though we still maintain our guppie status), and finally made it back in. Coming in is the fun part -- there is *some* swimming involved but far more body surfing and baywatch running (in slow motion, of course) through the surf.
Afterwards we sat in the sand for a little while and jumped around in the waves...until mean coach Brad made us go bike and run. Ok, so he's not mean, but maybe was a little grumpy and hungover after celebrating his 40th birthday yesterday. If anyone gives meaning to the saying "40 is the new 30", it's Brad - awesome guy, coach, and definitely inspiring and great to work with.
Ok, so we took off on the bike ride, through venice and around the marina -- about a 10 mile loop. Even though I got lost briefly, somehow I ended up back with the pack by the end.
I usually spend most of the ride dreading the run. No matter how well I handle the swim and bike, having that most hated part of the day hanging over my head really bums me out. I am trying to start saying "I LOVE running" as much as possible, hoping it will improve the experience...but goddammit, i HATE running. wait, no...i mean i LOVE running.. :)
We transitioned to the 5K run, which I apparently extended a few tenths of a mile by going too far, but whatever, I probably needed it. I ran pretty much all of it and actually had a thought near the end that I would do just fine at the actual triathlon. So yeah, a good day...er, morning. While I cursed Brad at 6 a.m. for making us be in the ocean by 7, with the heat like it was by 10:00 a.m., I'd say he knows what he's doing.
Ok, i'm tired now. Time for the 4th leg...remember? it's "nap" - no equipment required.
*snore*
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Rock! (and i don't mean my abs)
I'm ENGAGED to the love of my life!!!!!!!
He proposed on one knee in front of my family in the late part of the day sunday (well after the Mother's day festivities). I was shocked, said "yes" and then called him an asshole (mostly for surprising me YET again). It's very *me* and also caught on tape.
Here is the ring for all you voyeurs. :)
yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
A good day!
So today we did about as close to the triathlon distance as we've done yet.
First a 3/4 mile swim (slowly and getting used to the water still) -- this is actually longer than I will have to swim.
Then we did a 2 HOUR BIKE RIDE. Granted it was only 1 hour 50 minutes because we had the wind behind us on the way back, but still.
Then an optional 2 mile run. I totally kicked ASS at this part. For the first time, I ran it in 18 minutes - that's 9 MINUTE MILES. not 10...9. I was completely about to puke by the end -- not sure where another 4.2 miles would come from, but I was really proud of my speed for this one. I rocked it.
Somehow I ended up at Renaissance fair in the afternoon and by the time i got home at 8, to have sushi with Erik, I was practically snoozing in my miso soup. It was a great training day, but man, exhausting. TIME FOR BED!!!!
I wish I could say that I'm ready to do the next big workout (tomorrow) on Sunday, but I usually am wrecked a full 24 hours afterwards. Some people are *actually* going to swim and bike tomorrow too. Nutso's. don't they know you must rest on Mother's Day????
First a 3/4 mile swim (slowly and getting used to the water still) -- this is actually longer than I will have to swim.
Then we did a 2 HOUR BIKE RIDE. Granted it was only 1 hour 50 minutes because we had the wind behind us on the way back, but still.
Then an optional 2 mile run. I totally kicked ASS at this part. For the first time, I ran it in 18 minutes - that's 9 MINUTE MILES. not 10...9. I was completely about to puke by the end -- not sure where another 4.2 miles would come from, but I was really proud of my speed for this one. I rocked it.
Somehow I ended up at Renaissance fair in the afternoon and by the time i got home at 8, to have sushi with Erik, I was practically snoozing in my miso soup. It was a great training day, but man, exhausting. TIME FOR BED!!!!
I wish I could say that I'm ready to do the next big workout (tomorrow) on Sunday, but I usually am wrecked a full 24 hours afterwards. Some people are *actually* going to swim and bike tomorrow too. Nutso's. don't they know you must rest on Mother's Day????
Friday, May 9, 2008
Boo-TAY! arrrrrrr
Yesterday, my ridiculously generous and supportive boyfriend took me to Top-to-Top running store. I was completely resigned to running in crap shoes and cut off sweats thru to the end of my Tri training, despite massive chafing and blistering, but for some odd reason, I am a lucky lucky girl. Maybe triathlon wasn't *quite* the best decision for a social work grad student...but I have had a lot of support and help in getting me the equipment I need for this very costly event Seriously, there is so much CRAP to buy....who knew? Don't buy the "all you really need is running shoes, a bathing suit, and a bike" line - it's a big load of hog-hooie.
So here is what I made out with yesterday.
New Nike Running shoes - beautiful red and grey...
"I *heart* Tri" moisture-wicking socks
3/4 length Running pants - the most comfortable things i've ever worn
A new teal running shirt
These shoelace tie thingies so I don't have to lace my shoes, just zip tie them
A water bottle running belt
More gu/gel/shot blocks than you can shake a stick at.
I can't say i was necessarily running faster or longer today, but i definitely was WAY cooler.
Thanks baby!!!!!!!!!
And also thanks to him, and my mom, a little finders fee from Missy and Jason for a real estate referral ,and overzealous personal spending habits, I am also in possession of (or about to be in possession of):
A beautiful road bike
A unitard/triathlon race thingy
Tri shorts
A bike shirt
A bike saddle bag
Odometer
New sports bra
Bike air pump and tire repair kit (that i don't know how to use)
An awesome bathing suit
Silicon Swim Cap
Pink Goggles
Does this give you an idea of what it takes yet??? sheesh. I'm tired writing it.
In case anyone is curious, I still need (want):
- a Bento Box for my bike (*update -- Erik just got me this! weeeee!)
- Aero-bars
- Leg/arm warmers
- More moisture-wicking thin socks
- Sunglasses
- Hand pump
- Deep-tissue massage
- A Job
Some of these things can be found at sporteve.com or at trilabs.com, though I don't think that includes the job.
ok, that's all i got.
Up at 6 a.m tomorrow for a swim/2-hour bike/2-mile run tomorrow in Long beach.
So here is what I made out with yesterday.
New Nike Running shoes - beautiful red and grey...
"I *heart* Tri" moisture-wicking socks
3/4 length Running pants - the most comfortable things i've ever worn
A new teal running shirt
These shoelace tie thingies so I don't have to lace my shoes, just zip tie them
A water bottle running belt
More gu/gel/shot blocks than you can shake a stick at.
I can't say i was necessarily running faster or longer today, but i definitely was WAY cooler.
Thanks baby!!!!!!!!!
And also thanks to him, and my mom, a little finders fee from Missy and Jason for a real estate referral ,and overzealous personal spending habits, I am also in possession of (or about to be in possession of):
A beautiful road bike
A unitard/triathlon race thingy
Tri shorts
A bike shirt
A bike saddle bag
Odometer
New sports bra
Bike air pump and tire repair kit (that i don't know how to use)
An awesome bathing suit
Silicon Swim Cap
Pink Goggles
Does this give you an idea of what it takes yet??? sheesh. I'm tired writing it.
In case anyone is curious, I still need (want):
- a Bento Box for my bike (*update -- Erik just got me this! weeeee!)
- Aero-bars
- Leg/arm warmers
- More moisture-wicking thin socks
- Sunglasses
- Hand pump
- Deep-tissue massage
- A Job
Some of these things can be found at sporteve.com or at trilabs.com, though I don't think that includes the job.
ok, that's all i got.
Up at 6 a.m tomorrow for a swim/2-hour bike/2-mile run tomorrow in Long beach.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
For the first time......
.....I am going to do every required workout this week.
I'll post a sample schedule later when I figure out how to make it fit in this blog.
:-)
I'll post a sample schedule later when I figure out how to make it fit in this blog.
:-)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Cow Tipping 2
Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimber....
Only this time into a ditch..and in front of people.
Let's face it -- that last skinned knee was kinda lame.
Here was a fun conversation that transpired with a teammate after the ride.
Teammate: "Holy Crap! How fast were you going?"
Me: "Zero point zero miles per hour."
Him: (disappointed) "Oh"
*************
I really need to learn:
a) ...how to drink while riding. If I hadn't had to stop to drink some water, this wouldn't have happened
b) ...to take the foot out of the bike clip that I intend to stand on.
Only this time into a ditch..and in front of people.
Let's face it -- that last skinned knee was kinda lame.
Here was a fun conversation that transpired with a teammate after the ride.
Teammate: "Holy Crap! How fast were you going?"
Me: "Zero point zero miles per hour."
Him: (disappointed) "Oh"
*************
I really need to learn:
a) ...how to drink while riding. If I hadn't had to stop to drink some water, this wouldn't have happened
b) ...to take the foot out of the bike clip that I intend to stand on.
Friday, May 2, 2008
How I feel about Getting Up at 6 a. m. Tomorrow Morning For Bike/Run Practice In Palos Verdes
Best represented by the multi-talented and expressive Cookie.....
CowTipping
Yesterday my body took a more unusual beating.
The bike clips finally got me. I had heard of it happening but remember cockily thinking 'nah, I totally get 'em...no problemo.'
I had gotten lost in in the hills of santa monica, or maybe it was brentwood -- I got confused as to which way to go and all of a sudden as I debated whether to stop or go, I felt it happen in slow motion...I couldn't wrestle my foot out of the clip and just ate it. Really it was worse and less interesting than truly taking good nosedive because i wasn't even moving. I just toppled over like a cow tipping in the night. Embarrassed and slighly bleeding, I managed to disengage my foot from my bike and get up. Not one person even leaned out the window to ask if i was ok. I felt a bizarre and impatient audience of hummers, mercedes, bmw's and maybe even a ferrari just stared at me. I think i heard a horn honk. I tucked my tail between my diaper-shorted legs and slunk off, ignoring the sting of my knee and pride. It wasn't my best moment. However, it WAS nice to get over the anticipation of my first fall and just get it over with.
And i'm really proud to show off my war scar today. Hold onto your socks!
i know...it's HUGE. ha ha.
I also tried to take a picture of my ego wound, but alas...
The bike clips finally got me. I had heard of it happening but remember cockily thinking 'nah, I totally get 'em...no problemo.'
I had gotten lost in in the hills of santa monica, or maybe it was brentwood -- I got confused as to which way to go and all of a sudden as I debated whether to stop or go, I felt it happen in slow motion...I couldn't wrestle my foot out of the clip and just ate it. Really it was worse and less interesting than truly taking good nosedive because i wasn't even moving. I just toppled over like a cow tipping in the night. Embarrassed and slighly bleeding, I managed to disengage my foot from my bike and get up. Not one person even leaned out the window to ask if i was ok. I felt a bizarre and impatient audience of hummers, mercedes, bmw's and maybe even a ferrari just stared at me. I think i heard a horn honk. I tucked my tail between my diaper-shorted legs and slunk off, ignoring the sting of my knee and pride. It wasn't my best moment. However, it WAS nice to get over the anticipation of my first fall and just get it over with.
And i'm really proud to show off my war scar today. Hold onto your socks!
i know...it's HUGE. ha ha.
I also tried to take a picture of my ego wound, but alas...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Freaky People
Yesterday I took a left instead of a right for my hour-long run. I parked at the lot on ocean park and instead of taking off in the less crowded direction towards the pier, which would be my normal choice, I took off towards the Venice Boardwalk.
I have a fear of running outside. It started in my much heavier days towards the end of college when things really got out of control. At about 70 pounds heavier, but really rather in denial about it, I went for a run through the town of Princeton. I remember so clearly that it was a humid spring morning before my first ever real job interview, and I could barely barely squeeze into my size 16 suit that I had bought from Ann Taylor. I was horrified when a truck with a couple guys in it drove by and yelled 'better keep running fatty!'. And run I did....back to my dorm...in tears, and barely able to later suffer through a job interview that needless to say, I did not get.
So fast forward to other brief attempts at running, of which a small percentage included some idiot commenting on some aspect of my physical being...i mean, seriously, who are these people and where do they get the nerve?? But i've spent much of my life since then avoiding running alone outside, particularly being stopped at corners for stop lights where cars can stop and assess you...for some reason running alone, with no headphones, just feels so NAKED...maybe even worse than naked.
So yesterday I went left...through the throngs of people milling during dusk along venice boardwalk. I ran and ran -- about 2.5 miles down to Marina Del Rey and then back. It was hard running by the cafes with people enjoying drinks and just people-watching, worrying what they thought of my spandex-clad ass. I was shocked that throughout the whole run, I wasn't harrassed once, not about my breasts or my booty, or my running style, or my jiggle. No one told me to keep running, leered, or laughed. In fact, I ran by a grungy but delicate-looking panhandling 18-year old boy sitting against a wall with a jar and a sign that said "help me get to Prom" who said on my return trip past him "keep up the good work, hot stuff".
I loved that run yesterday. The beach was on my right the whole time, there was a buzzing energy along the boardwalk, as I passed the cafes, and "muscle beach", and the paddle courts, and all the crazy vendors, and the many varieties of dogs walking their owners. It was lively and colorful and I realized that when you're just one average person going for a run at sunset along one of the most eclectic places in the world, you're safe. I was happy to just be Normal blending in among those wonderful, freaky people.
I have a fear of running outside. It started in my much heavier days towards the end of college when things really got out of control. At about 70 pounds heavier, but really rather in denial about it, I went for a run through the town of Princeton. I remember so clearly that it was a humid spring morning before my first ever real job interview, and I could barely barely squeeze into my size 16 suit that I had bought from Ann Taylor. I was horrified when a truck with a couple guys in it drove by and yelled 'better keep running fatty!'. And run I did....back to my dorm...in tears, and barely able to later suffer through a job interview that needless to say, I did not get.
So fast forward to other brief attempts at running, of which a small percentage included some idiot commenting on some aspect of my physical being...i mean, seriously, who are these people and where do they get the nerve?? But i've spent much of my life since then avoiding running alone outside, particularly being stopped at corners for stop lights where cars can stop and assess you...for some reason running alone, with no headphones, just feels so NAKED...maybe even worse than naked.
So yesterday I went left...through the throngs of people milling during dusk along venice boardwalk. I ran and ran -- about 2.5 miles down to Marina Del Rey and then back. It was hard running by the cafes with people enjoying drinks and just people-watching, worrying what they thought of my spandex-clad ass. I was shocked that throughout the whole run, I wasn't harrassed once, not about my breasts or my booty, or my running style, or my jiggle. No one told me to keep running, leered, or laughed. In fact, I ran by a grungy but delicate-looking panhandling 18-year old boy sitting against a wall with a jar and a sign that said "help me get to Prom" who said on my return trip past him "keep up the good work, hot stuff".
I loved that run yesterday. The beach was on my right the whole time, there was a buzzing energy along the boardwalk, as I passed the cafes, and "muscle beach", and the paddle courts, and all the crazy vendors, and the many varieties of dogs walking their owners. It was lively and colorful and I realized that when you're just one average person going for a run at sunset along one of the most eclectic places in the world, you're safe. I was happy to just be Normal blending in among those wonderful, freaky people.
Important Announcement...
These are my step-children. I would like you to meet them.
Introducing Rocky (Yorkie) and Cookie (Japanese Chin)
I tend to favor Cookie a little bit in the picture-taking b/c she is so pathetic and goofy. But Rocky is insanely cute. Here are a few more of the girls. Oh, my god, i can't stand how cute they are.
Hey people!
I have a billion more. Maybe I'll start sprinkling them in my posts.
big hugs!
Introducing Rocky (Yorkie) and Cookie (Japanese Chin)
I tend to favor Cookie a little bit in the picture-taking b/c she is so pathetic and goofy. But Rocky is insanely cute. Here are a few more of the girls. Oh, my god, i can't stand how cute they are.
This is sorta how I am after my Saturday Practices:
Hey people!
I have a billion more. Maybe I'll start sprinkling them in my posts.
big hugs!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Parallel Universe
Training for a triathlon is a really eye-opening experience, and not just in how jarring the required physical activity and skills are. I've noticed a lot about myself in the 2 months that I've been doing this - most notably how patterns emerge in my response to challenge that surface in my everyday life as well.
The fact is that I am having the experience of myself right now as really kind of self-sabotaging myself. No, I don't have doubts that I will complete it -- I will get through it, even if it's not pretty. But the thing I've done my whole life -- of using my innate capabilities to 'get me through' - even if it doesn't require 100% effort...well it continues. I could be doing more than I'm doing. I have yet to take charge of my nutrition (in fact, while I am building muscle and stamina, I have gained weight), it has been weeks since I completed every recommended workout, and today I bailed on my swim practice just because I was a little tired. I'm not meaning to berate myself in this, but I am noticing how easy I tend to give up on myself, or not hold myself accountable -- like there's a little devil on one shoulder and angel on the other and more often than not, I give into the devil.
I receive high praises for doing this whenever I talk about it -- and yes, I have made many strides that I'm proud of. Our coaches are proud...I've come a long way. But at the end of the day, we each go to bed knowing if we gave it our 100% best. And I know I'm not. What is it? Fear of failure? Fear of success? One of those cliches perhaps...but either way there's a lot of fear couched in a sort of self-deprecation and shoulder-shrugging approach to training and my wanting more for myself...It scares me to know people are watching and rooting me on...to be perfectly honest.
Tomorrow I will do the workout as prescribed and start working towards not just finishing the race, dragging ass across the finish line, but doing it to the best of my ability, and really start to catch myself when I start to sell myself short.
The fact is that I am having the experience of myself right now as really kind of self-sabotaging myself. No, I don't have doubts that I will complete it -- I will get through it, even if it's not pretty. But the thing I've done my whole life -- of using my innate capabilities to 'get me through' - even if it doesn't require 100% effort...well it continues. I could be doing more than I'm doing. I have yet to take charge of my nutrition (in fact, while I am building muscle and stamina, I have gained weight), it has been weeks since I completed every recommended workout, and today I bailed on my swim practice just because I was a little tired. I'm not meaning to berate myself in this, but I am noticing how easy I tend to give up on myself, or not hold myself accountable -- like there's a little devil on one shoulder and angel on the other and more often than not, I give into the devil.
I receive high praises for doing this whenever I talk about it -- and yes, I have made many strides that I'm proud of. Our coaches are proud...I've come a long way. But at the end of the day, we each go to bed knowing if we gave it our 100% best. And I know I'm not. What is it? Fear of failure? Fear of success? One of those cliches perhaps...but either way there's a lot of fear couched in a sort of self-deprecation and shoulder-shrugging approach to training and my wanting more for myself...It scares me to know people are watching and rooting me on...to be perfectly honest.
Tomorrow I will do the workout as prescribed and start working towards not just finishing the race, dragging ass across the finish line, but doing it to the best of my ability, and really start to catch myself when I start to sell myself short.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tri-ing it for the 1st time!
Yesterday was the 1st day that we did all 3 components of a triathlon in one practice, and it gave me a real sense of exactly how much more intense and crazy race day is going to be than I had even realized.
We met in Long Beach at 7:45 a.m. I was so tired my eyes were practically closed shut. You know those nights where you KNOW you need to fall asleep at a decent time and because of the pressure, you just CAN'T? I was sitting on the edge of the bed at around 2 a.m. crying b/c I was so tired but my dumb brain was on hyper-overdrive. THere wasn't enough time to pop an ambien, so I just took the couple hours and figured I *might* survive the day. I barely remember the drive down there at 7 a.m. but I made it, and found my teammates somewhere on the vast landscape that is Long Beach.
First off we got a lesson in putting on our wetsuits. I figured out how to get it done a little more gracefully, but wow, was it as tight as I had remembered. Lubing up with bodyglide only goes so far. I am glad sharks prefer seals to a well-stuffed vienna sausage, because that's what I actually resemble all wetsuitted up. I was amused that our first 'ocean swim' was actually in a little harbor, not the open ocean. I'm not actually complaining about the calmness of the water, but rather that it seemed rather sewer-ish and quite frankly, was disgusting. I had briefly thought maybe a sleevless wetsuit would have been a better choice, but in retrospect the less skin actually in the water, probably the better for avoiding the dysentary. The day I actaully have to fight the surf to get out to the swim will be one for the recordbooks.
The first remarkable thing about getting in the water is that except for instant numbness in your hands and feet, you really feel NOTHING. It's amazing.
Secondly, you float completely. You can just lay back and not have to do anything to stay afloat. In fact our coach encouraged us to not kick so much when we swim b/c it just wastes energy, to just use the buoyance of the wetsuit and your arms (and draft off other swimmers) to get where you're going. Some of the boys were even more dumbfounded than I was at being able to float so well in water. I told them they can have the experience without the wetsuit if they grow some boobs and bodyfat.
I tried to avoid putting my face in for as long as possible, but ultimately you just have to do it, in order to get anywhere. It is SO different than swimming in a pool. You can't see ANYthing under the water, first of all, and second of all, there are no lanes, so I spent the entire swim zigzagging between other swimmings, kinda bouncing off them. I think one arm must be much stronger than the other b/c I practially swim in circles without the lanes to rein me in.
We did 1/2 mile...survived 1/2 mile...without contracting any infectious diseases from the nasty gnarly water, and then headed out to the bike.
It's very disorienting coming out of the water, but since my transition took about 15 minutes by the time i got on the bike - it should take like 3 minutes -- I was relatively back to normal. We did 45 minutes and then came back to transition for the run. I was annoyed on the bike ride when a 60+ year old man in SLACKS and a button-down passed me on the bridge. What the F*CK! He musta had serious bionic legs under those slacks.
I don't have much else to say about the bike/run except that wow, is it a lot harder after being i n salt water. Your skin is tight and dry, your clothes are wet, and personally I feel off kilter, maybe from water in the ear. I ran the whole 2.5 miles, but I can see that doing 6 on the actual race day, when it's NOT flat, is going to be quite a feat. Running is like torture to me...I'm sure some of it has to be with still being a higher bodyweight than I want to be, that it'll get easier, but I'm still fighting it. I'm sure fancy new shoes would help :).
So anyway, I managed to get home, but was I exhausted! The little-known 4th leg of a triathlon is called "nap"...and I excel in that.
We met in Long Beach at 7:45 a.m. I was so tired my eyes were practically closed shut. You know those nights where you KNOW you need to fall asleep at a decent time and because of the pressure, you just CAN'T? I was sitting on the edge of the bed at around 2 a.m. crying b/c I was so tired but my dumb brain was on hyper-overdrive. THere wasn't enough time to pop an ambien, so I just took the couple hours and figured I *might* survive the day. I barely remember the drive down there at 7 a.m. but I made it, and found my teammates somewhere on the vast landscape that is Long Beach.
First off we got a lesson in putting on our wetsuits. I figured out how to get it done a little more gracefully, but wow, was it as tight as I had remembered. Lubing up with bodyglide only goes so far. I am glad sharks prefer seals to a well-stuffed vienna sausage, because that's what I actually resemble all wetsuitted up. I was amused that our first 'ocean swim' was actually in a little harbor, not the open ocean. I'm not actually complaining about the calmness of the water, but rather that it seemed rather sewer-ish and quite frankly, was disgusting. I had briefly thought maybe a sleevless wetsuit would have been a better choice, but in retrospect the less skin actually in the water, probably the better for avoiding the dysentary. The day I actaully have to fight the surf to get out to the swim will be one for the recordbooks.
The first remarkable thing about getting in the water is that except for instant numbness in your hands and feet, you really feel NOTHING. It's amazing.
Secondly, you float completely. You can just lay back and not have to do anything to stay afloat. In fact our coach encouraged us to not kick so much when we swim b/c it just wastes energy, to just use the buoyance of the wetsuit and your arms (and draft off other swimmers) to get where you're going. Some of the boys were even more dumbfounded than I was at being able to float so well in water. I told them they can have the experience without the wetsuit if they grow some boobs and bodyfat.
I tried to avoid putting my face in for as long as possible, but ultimately you just have to do it, in order to get anywhere. It is SO different than swimming in a pool. You can't see ANYthing under the water, first of all, and second of all, there are no lanes, so I spent the entire swim zigzagging between other swimmings, kinda bouncing off them. I think one arm must be much stronger than the other b/c I practially swim in circles without the lanes to rein me in.
We did 1/2 mile...survived 1/2 mile...without contracting any infectious diseases from the nasty gnarly water, and then headed out to the bike.
It's very disorienting coming out of the water, but since my transition took about 15 minutes by the time i got on the bike - it should take like 3 minutes -- I was relatively back to normal. We did 45 minutes and then came back to transition for the run. I was annoyed on the bike ride when a 60+ year old man in SLACKS and a button-down passed me on the bridge. What the F*CK! He musta had serious bionic legs under those slacks.
I don't have much else to say about the bike/run except that wow, is it a lot harder after being i n salt water. Your skin is tight and dry, your clothes are wet, and personally I feel off kilter, maybe from water in the ear. I ran the whole 2.5 miles, but I can see that doing 6 on the actual race day, when it's NOT flat, is going to be quite a feat. Running is like torture to me...I'm sure some of it has to be with still being a higher bodyweight than I want to be, that it'll get easier, but I'm still fighting it. I'm sure fancy new shoes would help :).
So anyway, I managed to get home, but was I exhausted! The little-known 4th leg of a triathlon is called "nap"...and I excel in that.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Devastating News
I found out last night at swim practice that the pool we practice in is measured in YARDS not meters.....
**********************
We had a short swim practice last night...short because it didn't have drills and w e were just required to swim 1500 YARDS -- 500 split up into 3 sets. By split up, I mean we were given just 30 seconds rest in between sets. Not much of a partition if you ask me. My first lap of the 60 was strong. By the end, i'm not even sure I was pulling with my arms; they were just kinda flapping into the water. Form was out the window. It wasn't pretty, but i made it. I have a feeling swimming in the ocean this coming saturday is going to be a unique and wonderful experience. :)
**********************
We had a short swim practice last night...short because it didn't have drills and w e were just required to swim 1500 YARDS -- 500 split up into 3 sets. By split up, I mean we were given just 30 seconds rest in between sets. Not much of a partition if you ask me. My first lap of the 60 was strong. By the end, i'm not even sure I was pulling with my arms; they were just kinda flapping into the water. Form was out the window. It wasn't pretty, but i made it. I have a feeling swimming in the ocean this coming saturday is going to be a unique and wonderful experience. :)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Call me Flipper
Saturday I got my wetsuit!!! My first impression of it was that it came in a great tote bag, was beautiful and gray/black, was thicker than I expected, and says Team-in-Training on it. My second impression was that it looked awfully small. My mom questioned my ability to actually get it on; I wondered as well.
After about 20 minutes of wrangling, squeezing, grunting, and pulling, i got it on and it certainly does fit like a (OJ's) glove. I'm not sure exactly how they expect me to fit a pair of triathlon shorts and a sports bra under it cuz it's already pretty obscene. But it holds you in, that's for sure, and also outlines every last nook and cranny. Who says triathlon isn't a spectator sport?
Next weekend I'll actually be wearing it IN THE OCEAN! This past weekend we practiced running up the beach (we had the option this time of not going in if we didn't want to; i opted to only put a toe in) and practicing transitions. It gave me a closer idea of what i'm in for...more to come.
After about 20 minutes of wrangling, squeezing, grunting, and pulling, i got it on and it certainly does fit like a (OJ's) glove. I'm not sure exactly how they expect me to fit a pair of triathlon shorts and a sports bra under it cuz it's already pretty obscene. But it holds you in, that's for sure, and also outlines every last nook and cranny. Who says triathlon isn't a spectator sport?
Next weekend I'll actually be wearing it IN THE OCEAN! This past weekend we practiced running up the beach (we had the option this time of not going in if we didn't want to; i opted to only put a toe in) and practicing transitions. It gave me a closer idea of what i'm in for...more to come.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Another Post About My Crotch
First of all, i have a love/hate relationship with the word "crotch".
Second of all, having done my longest ride to date - 28 miles along Pacific Coast Highway - it's on my mind. Despite my diaper shorts, there is no getting around a certain amount of discomfort. As someone on my team put it, you still end up making love to your seat. Only it's not sweet sweet love, it's more like rough uncomfortable angry love. Fortunately, the overriding discomfort of being bent over for 2 hours, in narrow shoes attached to the pedals, helps take your mind off of some of that.
We also practiced getting on and off the bikes in the transition area (from swim to bike/bike to swim)...it was all going w ell until on my 3rd practice try, I decided to try and dismount while moving and by kicking my leg over my handlebars rather than behind me. I fell. And I was embarrassed. Lesson learned :)
Second of all, having done my longest ride to date - 28 miles along Pacific Coast Highway - it's on my mind. Despite my diaper shorts, there is no getting around a certain amount of discomfort. As someone on my team put it, you still end up making love to your seat. Only it's not sweet sweet love, it's more like rough uncomfortable angry love. Fortunately, the overriding discomfort of being bent over for 2 hours, in narrow shoes attached to the pedals, helps take your mind off of some of that.
We also practiced getting on and off the bikes in the transition area (from swim to bike/bike to swim)...it was all going w ell until on my 3rd practice try, I decided to try and dismount while moving and by kicking my leg over my handlebars rather than behind me. I fell. And I was embarrassed. Lesson learned :)
Friday, April 11, 2008
Breaking Wind
Yesterday I finally went on my maiden voyage on the new bike I got for my birthday. Erik found a beautiful, only slightly used Specialized on craigslist, which we adopted on March 21st. Ok, ok, granted, yesterday was April 10th, which means several weeks since purchase, but in fairness, I had some personal matters going o n, which impeded training.
Whilst at my parents house this last weekend, I took the opportunity to try her out. It's a lot different riding a road bike than a hybrid -- you are much more bent over and the wheels are 1/2 the size which raises my chance of eating asphalt by at least 1000%. On top of that, I had only used my clips and new shoes one other time, so I was nervous. My mom offered ideas on local streets around my house to practice on but somehow I took a wrong turn. There was a loud alarm that went off in my head as I was hurtling a 45degree downhill at what seemed like 30 mph. In conjuntion, I actually said 'oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck' about 10 times. This was not because I thought I might fall, but because it meant that after less than 5 minutes of riding, I had now sealed the fate of having to go up an even steeper hill on the way back. (don't ask me how that works,but it's true).
So after 7 minutes of riding, I ended up walking (which is not easy in bike shoes) about 15 minutes straight uphill back home. It was not pretty. My 45 minute ambitions were a bit too lofty. My plans to run were a joke. But at least I had now TRIED the new girl out.
So yesterday, in the South Bay and along 11 miles of oceanfront, I had my first REAL ride on a road bike -- 60 minutes followed by a 10 minute run -- and it was nice. It would have been nicer if I had realized my front brake was dragging on my wheel sooner than mile 6, but oh well....better workout, right?
This weekend, there are 2 ride/runs scheduled, which is good. I would say despite not working out today, I'll get 5 of 7 workouts in this week, so I'm back on track. 10 weeks to go.
Whilst at my parents house this last weekend, I took the opportunity to try her out. It's a lot different riding a road bike than a hybrid -- you are much more bent over and the wheels are 1/2 the size which raises my chance of eating asphalt by at least 1000%. On top of that, I had only used my clips and new shoes one other time, so I was nervous. My mom offered ideas on local streets around my house to practice on but somehow I took a wrong turn. There was a loud alarm that went off in my head as I was hurtling a 45degree downhill at what seemed like 30 mph. In conjuntion, I actually said 'oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck' about 10 times. This was not because I thought I might fall, but because it meant that after less than 5 minutes of riding, I had now sealed the fate of having to go up an even steeper hill on the way back. (don't ask me how that works,but it's true).
So after 7 minutes of riding, I ended up walking (which is not easy in bike shoes) about 15 minutes straight uphill back home. It was not pretty. My 45 minute ambitions were a bit too lofty. My plans to run were a joke. But at least I had now TRIED the new girl out.
So yesterday, in the South Bay and along 11 miles of oceanfront, I had my first REAL ride on a road bike -- 60 minutes followed by a 10 minute run -- and it was nice. It would have been nicer if I had realized my front brake was dragging on my wheel sooner than mile 6, but oh well....better workout, right?
This weekend, there are 2 ride/runs scheduled, which is good. I would say despite not working out today, I'll get 5 of 7 workouts in this week, so I'm back on track. 10 weeks to go.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Little green guys...
I turned 30, and it was a blast. I partied at my surprise party as any person leaving their 20's might...and i expected that I'd take a day to recover and gave away the day before my b-day and the day of to 'celebrate' with family and friends.
Little did I expect that I would end up sick for days and days...and not a cold sick...like breathing sick -- asthma on top of chest cold.
I"m bummed to report that it has now been 11 days since a workout. But today is the day. Even though I'm still hacking up a lung. I'll be in the water and hope that I can at least do 1/2 the workout without drowning in the 3-foot deep pool. That's the goal.
IT's frustrating, but I'm at least grateful that I still have 12 weeks to go. It's plenty of time and now that THIS is out of the way (or almost), it's 'go time'.
Little did I expect that I would end up sick for days and days...and not a cold sick...like breathing sick -- asthma on top of chest cold.
I"m bummed to report that it has now been 11 days since a workout. But today is the day. Even though I'm still hacking up a lung. I'll be in the water and hope that I can at least do 1/2 the workout without drowning in the 3-foot deep pool. That's the goal.
IT's frustrating, but I'm at least grateful that I still have 12 weeks to go. It's plenty of time and now that THIS is out of the way (or almost), it's 'go time'.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Weekend at Wildflower
This post could also have been entitled Whining and Wining...or Camping and Cramping. Ha not really...actually no whining or cramping...but there was wine!
This past weekend I headed up with the California Team-in-Training triathlon teams (including the certifiable Ironman team) to Lake San Antonio, about 30 minutes northwest of Paso Robles. I was pretty nervous about spending 48 hours with about 30 virtual strangers from my team and about 120 true strangers total from all the other CA teams. In fact, I was having flashbacks from camp when I was 6 and crying for my mommy cuz i didn't want to dig a hole and squat.
But with some encouragement from Erik and the promise of at least port-a-potties, I decided to go.
Since it was a long weekend and a there was a lot of minutia that don't belong in a blog, here are the highlights. And it's still probably too long. and not proofread.
Friday
11:30 a.m.
A girl from my team that I'd never met showed up to whisk me away on a 4 hour drive. I was nervous because, my god, what do you talk about for 4 hours? what if it was silent the whole way? What if she wouldn't spot to let me pee? My bladder is peanut-sized!!! eek!
As it turned out, we got along fine. And I made it with only one pitstop.
3:30 p.m.
Arrived in Paso Robles and hit up the last Starbucks (and sign of civilization) before the 27 mile drive out in the countryside to Lake San Antonio. To say that it was beautiful in that area is a gross understatement. The hills were all green, there were pastures and cows and llamas(!) and beautiful ranches. I could live there if I had any idea about farming or wines.
4:00 p.m.
Arrived at camp. Played 'helpless girl' card and got Coach Brad (who actually scares me a little) to help me pitch my rental tent. Obviously the helpless girl thing wasn't an act b/c when i tried to pay it forward and help another girl pitch her tent, it looked a little misshapen and perhaps unlivable. Coach Brad fixed it and I slunk away.
Oh, but good news! I didn't have to share as the paperwork promised I would...which was good because these so-called '2-person' tents only qualify if you are going to stack occupants, and I only do that with Erik.
5:00 pm
The girl whose tent I helped pitch discovered she'd locked her keys in the car. So no joke, I threaded a tent pole thru her cracked sun roof and wedged it under the automatic door lock and popped it open. Just arm me with some dental floss and a tent pole and call me macgyver. She let me sit in her chair by the fire for awhile as a reward :)
7:00 p.m.
Dinner Bell!!!!! Like pavlov's dog, i was immediately in line...it was freezing cold and I debated buying the gloves the Iron Team was selling as a fundrasier. They also were cooking our meals for us for the weekend...and all of a sudden one of them offered me not one, but TWO warm rolls, to hold while waiting for the line to move. I liked that guy. I ate my handwarmers soon after. It was all bread, pasta, and cookies all weekend...sounds great right? Well when you're the ironTeam, you burn off a day's calorie's in one workout. When you are me, you burn 1/2 a roll. How does one gain weight training for a tri? Come ask me :)
8:30
Team meeting -- 25 mile bike ride planned for 7:30 a.m. Breakfast at 6:00 a.m.
Sh*t. There's no way I could jack a teammates car and high-tail it outta there without being noticed (or branded a wussy thief). I stayed.
8:45
1/2 and ambien - check
one muscle relaxer - check
2 earplugs - check
1 rock jutting in my spine and a cold nose - check.
I wrapped myself like a burrito in the red blanket I brought and wedged in my sleeping bag.
Mild sleep and hoping I wouldn't wake in the morning and find it was a ghost town b/c i didn't wake up and miss the ride.
Saturday
5:45 a.m.
Awaken to the sound of Star Wars theme song on one nearby cell phone alarm and about 15 others in stereo. Bolted upright, changed in my sleeping bag and headed forbathroom. You have never seen so many billions of stars in so clear a sky. It was phenomenal.
5:47 a.m.
Show up at IronTeam tent for coffee before breakfast.
Turned away. It's actually 4:47 a.m. I got up to the wrong alarms. Damn that star wars theme song and earplugs that fall out 1/2 way thru the night.
4:50 a.m.
Back in burrito mode.
5:45 a.m.
Awaken to cacaphony of MY team's phone alarms going off. Head for coffee, finally and eat a far-too-large breakfast burrito. Spent some time regaling anyone who would listen to the riveting story of my early wake-up call.
7:30 a.m.
Show up for bike ride, freezing my tuchus off, get in the back with the other beginners. Realize that I'm extra uncool because my bike has a kickstand. I might as well have had streamers and a bell. I have one bike outfit and I was wearing it: diaper shorts and a short-sleeved bike jersey. Someone offered me arm warmers. nahhh, but thanks...i just jogged for 5 minutes, i'm FINE....totally warm. ah, foolish pride.
7:45 a.m.
Take off down first hill. There's a little detail called WIND CHILL. Fingers immediatly turned purple and I'm pretty sure I've never been colder and will have to turn back. I was momentarily distracted by 3 deer(s) leaping across the road. Cool!
Ok, focus back on the loss of sensation in my feet and hands. Thankfully, a mentor from the eastside Tri team lent me his outer layer long sleeved jersey. I was mildly saved - otherwise, there was no way. As thanks, I'm pretty sure i wiped my snotty nose on it several times during the ride.
8:45 a.m
Ater a grueling uphill that I had to walk during, we had a long coast downhill...a little more till the 1/2 way mark.
I passed what looked like a rock in the road. A large furry rock that apparently wasn't struck hard enough to die by whatever vehicle hit it b/c it moved as i rode by. I screamed. It was either a badger or a beaver. Do they have beavers in central cal?
9:15 a.m.
I realized that every awesome downhill we had had turned into a mean uphill on the way back. But walking up the end of those hills has its benefits. I saw a dead feathery owl on the side of the road.
10:00 a.m. or so
Got back to camp! Woo hoo!!! 25 miles! I only walked about 5 times, but on a 30 pound bike with a kickstand, and very little biking stamina, I was pleased with myself.
10:15 a.m.
Took the best shower in the history of the world. HOT WATER!!!! My fingers and toes appeared to still be intact.
10:45 a.m.
Now what? Nothing till the 10K run tomorrow morning.
Rather than sit and drink by the campfire, I took off with 9 other people to go sample some wineries in nearby paso robles. It was a lot of fun and to meet a few people in a smaller setting rather than the crowd of people at camp was more comfortable for me. Yes, jessilicious has her very insecure moments.
12:00 - 3:00 pm.
Wine samplings. Some good some bad, but really they all taste like 2-buck chuck to me, especially after about 15 1-oz tastes...they add up! I figured if I was sober by dinnertime, i'd be fine by the run.
4:00 p.m.
Starbucks, again. :)
We walked in and in my mild buzz I saw a guy that I swear looked just like Nick Lachey...and then I saw Coach Brad at the table with him and a few others and thought... "why does coach Brad know Nick Lachey?" ha ha
We grabbed a slice of pizza next door to tide us over till 7pm dinner. More carbs. Perfect. The philosophy of using up calories that I had burned on my 2.5 hour bike ride fit into the same philosophy as spending my tax return. The tax return was pretty much already spent and then some before it hit my bank account. Same with my exercise calories. Suddenly you're in overdraft.
5:00 p.m.
Back at camp. It HAILED...followed by a rainbow that stretched all the way across the sky. This nature stuff is pretty cool. Well not the cold, wet part, but the stars and rainbow rocked.
6:00 pm.
DINNER BELL! CRAP! We just ate. Oh well, it's paid for. Pasta sounds good.
7:00 p.m.
I"m full. Really full. I don't feel like a triathlete.
Oh wait, here's a sport I'm good at - people playing flip cup! I cheered on a few games and admired those that feel they can drink heavily before an 8:30 a.m. 6.2 mile run. in fairness, more than a couple people bailed "because it was too cold". ha.
8:30 p.m.
After more idle socialization and a team meeting, I figured I could escape to bed.
Other 1/2 ambien, muscle relaxer, rocks in spine, ill-fitting ear plugs....rinse and repeat.
Sunday
Middle of Night
Stumble to bathroom. Get hit in face with tree branch. Mange to open eyes enough on the walk to admire night sky again.
7:00 a.m.
Woke up at right time. Packed up to flee camping immediately after run with Kelly. You should have SEEN me trying to stuff that damn tent into it's bag. It was a battle for the ages. Fortunately, my full body weight, made of pasta and rice and everything nice, was enough leverage to finally zip up that bastard.
9:00 a.m.
Coach Brad says "let's go!" and we take off running. Again, I'm misdressed but at least brought a hoodie this time. I had spent most of the weekend wrapped in the red fleece blanket, wearing it like a toga. Beats a jacket anyday.
Anyway, started off on the beautiful 6.2 mile run. The 1st 5 miles roughly was all uphill. I walked maybe 10 minutes of the whole 75 minutes it took, but mostly kept going. It was chilly but somehow not feeling your legs helps. :) The last mile was a steep downihill. Brad said to just roll down and go with gravity and I did...It was warm, a gorgeous view of the lake, and my body started to unthaw. For a *moment*, i had the thought 'wow, I actually kinda feel like a runner!' That moment passed as my legs unthawed and I realized that my inner thighs were on fire and a little skin was missing from the friction, the glamourous side to the sport. You start to realize that all the high-tech gear is there for a reason...cut off sweats are NOT ideal unless your thighs don't touch...even then I'm sure my thighs' auras would rub together and annoy me.
But I threw up my best lame rocker sign as a teammate snapped a photo of me finishing my 1st 6 mile run EVER...and totally not last!!!
10:30 a.m.
Leave uncivilization (ha) for civilization. Turned on my almost dead phone and got to hear Erik's voice on my voicemail. I couldn't wait to get back, despite the fun and milestones
Run the car ride in reverse, along with starbucks on the way out, adding in dried sweat, extreme exhaustion, and a huge sense of pride, and yada yada yada, I was back home...to the smog, pavement, and lack of perspective that is the fun of LA.
Going away alone camping with strangers is enough to dredge up horrible flashbacks of summer camp or their outdoor action college trip, and I certainly had my moments of doubt, insecurity and loneliness, but overall, I'm so glad I went. I got to know some of my teammates and recognize it was important to moving me one step closer to finishing that dern 1st triathlon!
By the by, if anyone ever needs a beautiful campground and lake to go camping, consider Lake Antonio -- seriously, phenomenal, and with dozens of wineries nearby to boot. My kinda camping.
This past weekend I headed up with the California Team-in-Training triathlon teams (including the certifiable Ironman team) to Lake San Antonio, about 30 minutes northwest of Paso Robles. I was pretty nervous about spending 48 hours with about 30 virtual strangers from my team and about 120 true strangers total from all the other CA teams. In fact, I was having flashbacks from camp when I was 6 and crying for my mommy cuz i didn't want to dig a hole and squat.
But with some encouragement from Erik and the promise of at least port-a-potties, I decided to go.
Since it was a long weekend and a there was a lot of minutia that don't belong in a blog, here are the highlights. And it's still probably too long. and not proofread.
Friday
11:30 a.m.
A girl from my team that I'd never met showed up to whisk me away on a 4 hour drive. I was nervous because, my god, what do you talk about for 4 hours? what if it was silent the whole way? What if she wouldn't spot to let me pee? My bladder is peanut-sized!!! eek!
As it turned out, we got along fine. And I made it with only one pitstop.
3:30 p.m.
Arrived in Paso Robles and hit up the last Starbucks (and sign of civilization) before the 27 mile drive out in the countryside to Lake San Antonio. To say that it was beautiful in that area is a gross understatement. The hills were all green, there were pastures and cows and llamas(!) and beautiful ranches. I could live there if I had any idea about farming or wines.
4:00 p.m.
Arrived at camp. Played 'helpless girl' card and got Coach Brad (who actually scares me a little) to help me pitch my rental tent. Obviously the helpless girl thing wasn't an act b/c when i tried to pay it forward and help another girl pitch her tent, it looked a little misshapen and perhaps unlivable. Coach Brad fixed it and I slunk away.
Oh, but good news! I didn't have to share as the paperwork promised I would...which was good because these so-called '2-person' tents only qualify if you are going to stack occupants, and I only do that with Erik.
5:00 pm
The girl whose tent I helped pitch discovered she'd locked her keys in the car. So no joke, I threaded a tent pole thru her cracked sun roof and wedged it under the automatic door lock and popped it open. Just arm me with some dental floss and a tent pole and call me macgyver. She let me sit in her chair by the fire for awhile as a reward :)
7:00 p.m.
Dinner Bell!!!!! Like pavlov's dog, i was immediately in line...it was freezing cold and I debated buying the gloves the Iron Team was selling as a fundrasier. They also were cooking our meals for us for the weekend...and all of a sudden one of them offered me not one, but TWO warm rolls, to hold while waiting for the line to move. I liked that guy. I ate my handwarmers soon after. It was all bread, pasta, and cookies all weekend...sounds great right? Well when you're the ironTeam, you burn off a day's calorie's in one workout. When you are me, you burn 1/2 a roll. How does one gain weight training for a tri? Come ask me :)
8:30
Team meeting -- 25 mile bike ride planned for 7:30 a.m. Breakfast at 6:00 a.m.
Sh*t. There's no way I could jack a teammates car and high-tail it outta there without being noticed (or branded a wussy thief). I stayed.
8:45
1/2 and ambien - check
one muscle relaxer - check
2 earplugs - check
1 rock jutting in my spine and a cold nose - check.
I wrapped myself like a burrito in the red blanket I brought and wedged in my sleeping bag.
Mild sleep and hoping I wouldn't wake in the morning and find it was a ghost town b/c i didn't wake up and miss the ride.
Saturday
5:45 a.m.
Awaken to the sound of Star Wars theme song on one nearby cell phone alarm and about 15 others in stereo. Bolted upright, changed in my sleeping bag and headed forbathroom. You have never seen so many billions of stars in so clear a sky. It was phenomenal.
5:47 a.m.
Show up at IronTeam tent for coffee before breakfast.
Turned away. It's actually 4:47 a.m. I got up to the wrong alarms. Damn that star wars theme song and earplugs that fall out 1/2 way thru the night.
4:50 a.m.
Back in burrito mode.
5:45 a.m.
Awaken to cacaphony of MY team's phone alarms going off. Head for coffee, finally and eat a far-too-large breakfast burrito. Spent some time regaling anyone who would listen to the riveting story of my early wake-up call.
7:30 a.m.
Show up for bike ride, freezing my tuchus off, get in the back with the other beginners. Realize that I'm extra uncool because my bike has a kickstand. I might as well have had streamers and a bell. I have one bike outfit and I was wearing it: diaper shorts and a short-sleeved bike jersey. Someone offered me arm warmers. nahhh, but thanks...i just jogged for 5 minutes, i'm FINE....totally warm. ah, foolish pride.
7:45 a.m.
Take off down first hill. There's a little detail called WIND CHILL. Fingers immediatly turned purple and I'm pretty sure I've never been colder and will have to turn back. I was momentarily distracted by 3 deer(s) leaping across the road. Cool!
Ok, focus back on the loss of sensation in my feet and hands. Thankfully, a mentor from the eastside Tri team lent me his outer layer long sleeved jersey. I was mildly saved - otherwise, there was no way. As thanks, I'm pretty sure i wiped my snotty nose on it several times during the ride.
8:45 a.m
Ater a grueling uphill that I had to walk during, we had a long coast downhill...a little more till the 1/2 way mark.
I passed what looked like a rock in the road. A large furry rock that apparently wasn't struck hard enough to die by whatever vehicle hit it b/c it moved as i rode by. I screamed. It was either a badger or a beaver. Do they have beavers in central cal?
9:15 a.m.
I realized that every awesome downhill we had had turned into a mean uphill on the way back. But walking up the end of those hills has its benefits. I saw a dead feathery owl on the side of the road.
10:00 a.m. or so
Got back to camp! Woo hoo!!! 25 miles! I only walked about 5 times, but on a 30 pound bike with a kickstand, and very little biking stamina, I was pleased with myself.
10:15 a.m.
Took the best shower in the history of the world. HOT WATER!!!! My fingers and toes appeared to still be intact.
10:45 a.m.
Now what? Nothing till the 10K run tomorrow morning.
Rather than sit and drink by the campfire, I took off with 9 other people to go sample some wineries in nearby paso robles. It was a lot of fun and to meet a few people in a smaller setting rather than the crowd of people at camp was more comfortable for me. Yes, jessilicious has her very insecure moments.
12:00 - 3:00 pm.
Wine samplings. Some good some bad, but really they all taste like 2-buck chuck to me, especially after about 15 1-oz tastes...they add up! I figured if I was sober by dinnertime, i'd be fine by the run.
4:00 p.m.
Starbucks, again. :)
We walked in and in my mild buzz I saw a guy that I swear looked just like Nick Lachey...and then I saw Coach Brad at the table with him and a few others and thought... "why does coach Brad know Nick Lachey?" ha ha
We grabbed a slice of pizza next door to tide us over till 7pm dinner. More carbs. Perfect. The philosophy of using up calories that I had burned on my 2.5 hour bike ride fit into the same philosophy as spending my tax return. The tax return was pretty much already spent and then some before it hit my bank account. Same with my exercise calories. Suddenly you're in overdraft.
5:00 p.m.
Back at camp. It HAILED...followed by a rainbow that stretched all the way across the sky. This nature stuff is pretty cool. Well not the cold, wet part, but the stars and rainbow rocked.
6:00 pm.
DINNER BELL! CRAP! We just ate. Oh well, it's paid for. Pasta sounds good.
7:00 p.m.
I"m full. Really full. I don't feel like a triathlete.
Oh wait, here's a sport I'm good at - people playing flip cup! I cheered on a few games and admired those that feel they can drink heavily before an 8:30 a.m. 6.2 mile run. in fairness, more than a couple people bailed "because it was too cold". ha.
8:30 p.m.
After more idle socialization and a team meeting, I figured I could escape to bed.
Other 1/2 ambien, muscle relaxer, rocks in spine, ill-fitting ear plugs....rinse and repeat.
Sunday
Middle of Night
Stumble to bathroom. Get hit in face with tree branch. Mange to open eyes enough on the walk to admire night sky again.
7:00 a.m.
Woke up at right time. Packed up to flee camping immediately after run with Kelly. You should have SEEN me trying to stuff that damn tent into it's bag. It was a battle for the ages. Fortunately, my full body weight, made of pasta and rice and everything nice, was enough leverage to finally zip up that bastard.
9:00 a.m.
Coach Brad says "let's go!" and we take off running. Again, I'm misdressed but at least brought a hoodie this time. I had spent most of the weekend wrapped in the red fleece blanket, wearing it like a toga. Beats a jacket anyday.
Anyway, started off on the beautiful 6.2 mile run. The 1st 5 miles roughly was all uphill. I walked maybe 10 minutes of the whole 75 minutes it took, but mostly kept going. It was chilly but somehow not feeling your legs helps. :) The last mile was a steep downihill. Brad said to just roll down and go with gravity and I did...It was warm, a gorgeous view of the lake, and my body started to unthaw. For a *moment*, i had the thought 'wow, I actually kinda feel like a runner!' That moment passed as my legs unthawed and I realized that my inner thighs were on fire and a little skin was missing from the friction, the glamourous side to the sport. You start to realize that all the high-tech gear is there for a reason...cut off sweats are NOT ideal unless your thighs don't touch...even then I'm sure my thighs' auras would rub together and annoy me.
But I threw up my best lame rocker sign as a teammate snapped a photo of me finishing my 1st 6 mile run EVER...and totally not last!!!
10:30 a.m.
Leave uncivilization (ha) for civilization. Turned on my almost dead phone and got to hear Erik's voice on my voicemail. I couldn't wait to get back, despite the fun and milestones
Run the car ride in reverse, along with starbucks on the way out, adding in dried sweat, extreme exhaustion, and a huge sense of pride, and yada yada yada, I was back home...to the smog, pavement, and lack of perspective that is the fun of LA.
Going away alone camping with strangers is enough to dredge up horrible flashbacks of summer camp or their outdoor action college trip, and I certainly had my moments of doubt, insecurity and loneliness, but overall, I'm so glad I went. I got to know some of my teammates and recognize it was important to moving me one step closer to finishing that dern 1st triathlon!
By the by, if anyone ever needs a beautiful campground and lake to go camping, consider Lake Antonio -- seriously, phenomenal, and with dozens of wineries nearby to boot. My kinda camping.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
A Word about Diaper shorts (aka Bike Shorts)
***If the words "camel" and "toe" used in tandem offend you, please do not read further**
So as I mentioned a few blogs ago, I purchased a pair of the most padded bike shorts I could find a few weeks ago.
In case you need a visual of diaper bike shorts, here is a photo of me the day I got them. We had gone out so i was wearing my cowboy boots and a cute pink top -- probably not what i'll have on the day of the race, though i do realize it's a hot look. :)
As it turned out, we didn't bike last weekend, so I missed out on the chance to wear them. No such luck today.
We had our first "brick", which means you bike and bike and bike, and then hop off your bike and attempt to run...it's just working on the transition part of the triathlon and it is one of the hardest things. But to that point in a moment.
My new bike shorts are INSANE. They are gel padded and super super bulky. Issue # one is this: there is the appearnce of major camel toe from the padding splittling off down either thigh. Seriously, I'd have an immediate appointment with a plastic surgeon if it was an accurate outline of my special parts (maybe not my dad for this one though, lol), but IT'S NOT. So dude, stop looking at my (faux) cameltoe.
Second of all, there is the wedgie factor. You get it on both ends and it ain't fun. You kind of assume that a pad that thick won't be able to work it's way up into your crack. You'd be wrong. I don't like having a normal underwear wedgie, let alone an atomic maxi-pad one. And picking the pad outta your heinie isn't so graceful no matter how you angle your body.
Finally, there's the padding issue. There was no pad in the ONE PLACE THAT MY a*s WAS HITTING THE SEAT. I blame the seat - it's old and on a bike I bought off craigslist for $100...but it still annoys...or chafes.... All that padding and waddling and butt picking and I still need to build up my own special callous that you can't buy at any sports store. Dammit.
But at the end of the day, I did my 13+ mile bike ride, followed by a 5 minute jog, and thus my first brick is complete. ta da.
My next purchase will be tri shorts which allegedly sport more of a panti-liner than super maxi-pad inside and can be used for all 3 phases of the race.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The bad...
So the other post was about the awesomeness of my donors.
This one is just a vent about the frustrating run I had this morning. I really just could barely function after like 15 minutes. I ran and ran and ran, and then looked at my watch and it literally had been 2 MINUTES....i couldn't believe it. So I ran and ran and ran some more and looked again and it had been 2 minutes and 30 seconds....it was insane.
I walked probably 1/2 of the 45 minutes and compared to the last 2 saturdays and other runs i've had, i was very disappointed. I wanted to run the full 45, to be making progress, to feel like a half-hour run is no big deal. Guess I'm just not there yet. I don't know if my body is just tired or I felt alone training this time, but pushing myself didn't seem like an option. Tomorrow I go to Disneyland, so hopefully I can get up prior to leaving and do a bike ride or swim, but i don't know. 5 days a week may be all I hav this week.
This one is just a vent about the frustrating run I had this morning. I really just could barely function after like 15 minutes. I ran and ran and ran, and then looked at my watch and it literally had been 2 MINUTES....i couldn't believe it. So I ran and ran and ran some more and looked again and it had been 2 minutes and 30 seconds....it was insane.
I walked probably 1/2 of the 45 minutes and compared to the last 2 saturdays and other runs i've had, i was very disappointed. I wanted to run the full 45, to be making progress, to feel like a half-hour run is no big deal. Guess I'm just not there yet. I don't know if my body is just tired or I felt alone training this time, but pushing myself didn't seem like an option. Tomorrow I go to Disneyland, so hopefully I can get up prior to leaving and do a bike ride or swim, but i don't know. 5 days a week may be all I hav this week.
I HIT THE MINIMUM!
I have 2 blogs to write today - one good and one bad. I'll write the good one first so you can decide if you want to go read the downer one next.
Here it is:
I hit the fundraising minimum of $3400 today!!! I will hit my personal goal of $4K too, i'm sure but as far as getting to San Diego, I'm there!! Well, ok, yeah, i have to actually be ready to do the tri, but as far as Team In Training is concerned, my obligation is fulfilled.
I can't believe how quickly generous my parents and their friends were -- all the people who have watched me grow up. My mom just said a word and they sprung to action...it's truly touching to know they are supporting me.
So thanks to everyone who has given thus far.
Here it is:
I hit the fundraising minimum of $3400 today!!! I will hit my personal goal of $4K too, i'm sure but as far as getting to San Diego, I'm there!! Well, ok, yeah, i have to actually be ready to do the tri, but as far as Team In Training is concerned, my obligation is fulfilled.
I can't believe how quickly generous my parents and their friends were -- all the people who have watched me grow up. My mom just said a word and they sprung to action...it's truly touching to know they are supporting me.
So thanks to everyone who has given thus far.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
I've run 4 miles and I can't get up!
So today I went to cheer my friend amanda on at the LA Marathon...My friend lives in a loft 1/2 mile from the finish so it worked out pretty well.
I got really choked up watching everyone work so hard for hours and hours and finally get so close to an amazing accomplishment. I was really proud of her and could barely choke back tears to tell her i was proud of her, as I ran 3 blocks to help her thru her cramps.
Then i remembered the searing soreness pervading the majority of my body from the 4 mile run yesterday morning with the team. It was ups and downs, probably the hardest run I've ever done. I'm certainly not near a triathlon or marathon and consequently i was unable or unwilling to do a long bike ride today. But I'm making small strides and seeing myself get stronger...4 miles will turn into a 10K and the hard work will pay off. I'll be finishing my equivalent of the lA marathon come june and can't frickin' wait!
I got really choked up watching everyone work so hard for hours and hours and finally get so close to an amazing accomplishment. I was really proud of her and could barely choke back tears to tell her i was proud of her, as I ran 3 blocks to help her thru her cramps.
Then i remembered the searing soreness pervading the majority of my body from the 4 mile run yesterday morning with the team. It was ups and downs, probably the hardest run I've ever done. I'm certainly not near a triathlon or marathon and consequently i was unable or unwilling to do a long bike ride today. But I'm making small strides and seeing myself get stronger...4 miles will turn into a 10K and the hard work will pay off. I'll be finishing my equivalent of the lA marathon come june and can't frickin' wait!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
What the 5K!
Well, a small milestone was completed. I ACTUALLY COMPLETED A RUNNING EVENT!
You may remember a few posts ago I wrote that I had to prove to myself I could run a 5K so I did it on the treadmill in 36 minutes. But I still wasn't so sure that on real land, with some small ups and downs, that I would be able to make it.
First I couldn't sleep. I haven't competed in an 'athletic event' since my feeble attempt at a tennis comeback 3 years ago when I lost in the first round to a very very lame club player and cried 2 hours all the way home. So after NOT sleeping, I got up at the a*s-crack of dawn...ok, so it was really like only 7 a.m. but to me it might as well be the middle of the night. I was shocked to see life out and about on the drive over to playa del rey where the race was. It actually was a beautiful day, clear, with tons of bicycle riders out training and people walking on the beach.
Well, there were people everywhere except where the actual race was. The flyer said there would be race signs everywhere. I noticed a balloon along the highway as I drove -- turns out "race signs everywhere" means one balloon on the side of the hightway. I thought it was for a small child's birthday. As 5k's go, this one was pretty small -- about 170 people and that was fine by me.
But I was still nervous. Fortunately, my friends Abby and Amanda were there to join me -- Amanda is running the marathon on sunday!!! Abby and I just wanted to make it across the finish. We gave each other butt pat's like real athletes do, and I was called over to my Team-N-Training people to go for a warm-up jog.
Ok, let me explain something. My 3 weeks of training to this point had only precision-tuned my body to be engineered to run 3.1 miles. Maybe 3.2. So when coach said we were going to run .6 miles to the first checkpoint and back, i about plotzed...an extra 1.2 miles was not in the plan. I pissed and moaned the whole way there and back, which I"m sure is the best way to make friends with your new teammates. And I was sure that I would now only make it 1.9 miles of the race. Remember, precision engineering.....
I got in the little pack of people at the start line, with my #62 (my first race number!) on my jersey and my very ragamuffin cutoff gym shorts signalling to the other competitors to watch out for me (i.e. step over me once I ended up a human speedbump 1/2 way thru)...I noted that maybe in a month when i turn 30 and go "up" a category to the 30-34 age division that maybe I'd be a competitor. I saw a small older woman in her 50's that I thought "now THAT'S probably who i need to be running against - put me in the 55+ division." These 25,26,27,28 year olds are like lightning, you know. Young whippersnappers. My bones creak when I get up off the couch.
So the buzzer thing went off and I dutifully started running. People passed me, but I wasn't at the back yet either. I toodled along, no ipod, no watch, just the sand and ocean to my right. I got to that darn .6 mile mark from the 'warm-up', cursing sensible things like 'stretching' and 'prepping your body for a race so you don't get injured'. I felt a little pain in my knee...then my hip...then my knee...little pains moving around taunting me. I vowed to start drinking some more milk.
I got the the 1.2 mile mark and did the little loop around the cone heading back to the finish line. The route had us go out and back 1.2 miles, then pass the finish then come back after going back out .35 miles...so yeah, the correctly mapped the race to 3.1 total.
Around 1.5 miles, I kinda was ready to veer off up the hill to my car, but i vowed not only would I finish, but i WAS NOT GOING TO WALK. Future ironmen don't walk in their first 5K. Then little old(er) lady ZIPPED by me. So much for my theory. Guess I need to race 80 year olds. I had a fantasy as I passed the finish line to do the last leg that maybe they were playing with our heads and that i didn't REALLY have another .7 miles to go, that they would all yell SURPRISE!!! YOU'RE DONE! But alas. I heard some of my team-in-training people cheering us on. I also would learn later that by this point, the winner of the 5K had already been done for about 10 minutes...ha ha.
I got to the OTHER last little cone, did my u-turn started my last .35 mile leg. Actually, I felt totally pumped, with adrenaline flowing and feeling no doubts anymore that I could run it all, provided my hips agreed. For the last .1 miles I did my version of a sprint and heard them yell #62 into the speaker as I zipped across the finish. I swear to you, I actually got choked up and I imagined how insane it'll be when I finish my (first of many) triathlon in June. I know there are people that run 3 miles everyday and it's no big deal. But it felt like a milestone in this tri training....and i was PROOOOOOUUUD. Amanda was already there to greet me and we cheered on the last couple minutes of Abby's run.
Now for the results.
31.52!!!!!!! Yup, 4 minutes faster than my trial run (last sunday I had to prove I could do it and ran it on the treadmill in 36 minutes). Not only that, but in my division, I came in 12th out of 30. That is in the TOP half of the field for those struggling with the math. My next one I'll do in under 30 minutes, no doubt.
The 1st 4 weeks of training - the base training - are coming to a close -- which leaves 4 months. I was kinda cocky with 5 months to go, but now I realize it's closer than I think. I have worked out -- swim/bike/run -- at least 5 days a week since i started and actually getting into it. The coaches have it all mapped out and all I have to do is follow the schedule. I even bought those diaper bike shorts today for my first outdoor ride on saturday. They're SUPER hot. But I have a long way to go and looking forward to it. More updates to come!
Please help me meet my goals and contribute to the fight against cancer by making a donation at http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/bigreddoesatriathlon.
*********
You may remember a few posts ago I wrote that I had to prove to myself I could run a 5K so I did it on the treadmill in 36 minutes. But I still wasn't so sure that on real land, with some small ups and downs, that I would be able to make it.
First I couldn't sleep. I haven't competed in an 'athletic event' since my feeble attempt at a tennis comeback 3 years ago when I lost in the first round to a very very lame club player and cried 2 hours all the way home. So after NOT sleeping, I got up at the a*s-crack of dawn...ok, so it was really like only 7 a.m. but to me it might as well be the middle of the night. I was shocked to see life out and about on the drive over to playa del rey where the race was. It actually was a beautiful day, clear, with tons of bicycle riders out training and people walking on the beach.
Well, there were people everywhere except where the actual race was. The flyer said there would be race signs everywhere. I noticed a balloon along the highway as I drove -- turns out "race signs everywhere" means one balloon on the side of the hightway. I thought it was for a small child's birthday. As 5k's go, this one was pretty small -- about 170 people and that was fine by me.
But I was still nervous. Fortunately, my friends Abby and Amanda were there to join me -- Amanda is running the marathon on sunday!!! Abby and I just wanted to make it across the finish. We gave each other butt pat's like real athletes do, and I was called over to my Team-N-Training people to go for a warm-up jog.
Ok, let me explain something. My 3 weeks of training to this point had only precision-tuned my body to be engineered to run 3.1 miles. Maybe 3.2. So when coach said we were going to run .6 miles to the first checkpoint and back, i about plotzed...an extra 1.2 miles was not in the plan. I pissed and moaned the whole way there and back, which I"m sure is the best way to make friends with your new teammates. And I was sure that I would now only make it 1.9 miles of the race. Remember, precision engineering.....
I got in the little pack of people at the start line, with my #62 (my first race number!) on my jersey and my very ragamuffin cutoff gym shorts signalling to the other competitors to watch out for me (i.e. step over me once I ended up a human speedbump 1/2 way thru)...I noted that maybe in a month when i turn 30 and go "up" a category to the 30-34 age division that maybe I'd be a competitor. I saw a small older woman in her 50's that I thought "now THAT'S probably who i need to be running against - put me in the 55+ division." These 25,26,27,28 year olds are like lightning, you know. Young whippersnappers. My bones creak when I get up off the couch.
So the buzzer thing went off and I dutifully started running. People passed me, but I wasn't at the back yet either. I toodled along, no ipod, no watch, just the sand and ocean to my right. I got to that darn .6 mile mark from the 'warm-up', cursing sensible things like 'stretching' and 'prepping your body for a race so you don't get injured'. I felt a little pain in my knee...then my hip...then my knee...little pains moving around taunting me. I vowed to start drinking some more milk.
I got the the 1.2 mile mark and did the little loop around the cone heading back to the finish line. The route had us go out and back 1.2 miles, then pass the finish then come back after going back out .35 miles...so yeah, the correctly mapped the race to 3.1 total.
Around 1.5 miles, I kinda was ready to veer off up the hill to my car, but i vowed not only would I finish, but i WAS NOT GOING TO WALK. Future ironmen don't walk in their first 5K. Then little old(er) lady ZIPPED by me. So much for my theory. Guess I need to race 80 year olds. I had a fantasy as I passed the finish line to do the last leg that maybe they were playing with our heads and that i didn't REALLY have another .7 miles to go, that they would all yell SURPRISE!!! YOU'RE DONE! But alas. I heard some of my team-in-training people cheering us on. I also would learn later that by this point, the winner of the 5K had already been done for about 10 minutes...ha ha.
I got to the OTHER last little cone, did my u-turn started my last .35 mile leg. Actually, I felt totally pumped, with adrenaline flowing and feeling no doubts anymore that I could run it all, provided my hips agreed. For the last .1 miles I did my version of a sprint and heard them yell #62 into the speaker as I zipped across the finish. I swear to you, I actually got choked up and I imagined how insane it'll be when I finish my (first of many) triathlon in June. I know there are people that run 3 miles everyday and it's no big deal. But it felt like a milestone in this tri training....and i was PROOOOOOUUUD. Amanda was already there to greet me and we cheered on the last couple minutes of Abby's run.
Now for the results.
31.52!!!!!!! Yup, 4 minutes faster than my trial run (last sunday I had to prove I could do it and ran it on the treadmill in 36 minutes). Not only that, but in my division, I came in 12th out of 30. That is in the TOP half of the field for those struggling with the math. My next one I'll do in under 30 minutes, no doubt.
The 1st 4 weeks of training - the base training - are coming to a close -- which leaves 4 months. I was kinda cocky with 5 months to go, but now I realize it's closer than I think. I have worked out -- swim/bike/run -- at least 5 days a week since i started and actually getting into it. The coaches have it all mapped out and all I have to do is follow the schedule. I even bought those diaper bike shorts today for my first outdoor ride on saturday. They're SUPER hot. But I have a long way to go and looking forward to it. More updates to come!
Please help me meet my goals and contribute to the fight against cancer by making a donation at http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/bigreddoesatriathlon.
*********
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Snap!!
I had a little run-in with my swim cap today. Apparently, adjusting it should not be done with slippery fingers. I almost knocked myself on my ass.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Fundraising Component and a 5K
Well i sent out my first email to a large large group of people and was totally freaked out to do so. I hate asking people for things let alone $$, but I am sure that in the end I will get the support I need. Actually, i'm NOT sure of that...In fact, I'm really freaked out that i will not get any support. Those of you who know me know that I get really nervous when throwing parties or asking for help, or anything that depends on others....it's easy to take support or lack of very personally. So I'm trying not to do that, and remember that fundraising takes time and energy, and an unrelenting attitude. And maybe a thick skin?
In other news, I am signed up for a 5K this coming saturday (2/23) -- it's our training day, and that is the assigned practice for the day...a real live 5k race..my first one ever. And as it happens, there was talk that i haven't run 3 m iles straight, well, like ever. That part is true. What is not true (or i wondered) was that I couldn't do it. So screw that, i went to the gym and ran 3.1 miles today. It took 36 minutes. I didn't stop one time and ran about 5 mph the whole time, kicking it up to 5.8 for the last 2 minutes. so nah na na na na.
Detractors reconsider....and donate!!! :)
In other news, I am signed up for a 5K this coming saturday (2/23) -- it's our training day, and that is the assigned practice for the day...a real live 5k race..my first one ever. And as it happens, there was talk that i haven't run 3 m iles straight, well, like ever. That part is true. What is not true (or i wondered) was that I couldn't do it. So screw that, i went to the gym and ran 3.1 miles today. It took 36 minutes. I didn't stop one time and ran about 5 mph the whole time, kicking it up to 5.8 for the last 2 minutes. so nah na na na na.
Detractors reconsider....and donate!!! :)
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Double Duty
I confess that I hadn't worked out since Saturday -- meaning I missed the swim practice tuesday (b/c i couldn't find my goggles once i got to the pool -- i kinda lost my sh*t that night...the emotional kind, lol), and then last night my friend D and I went to Erik's store b/c he was so sick. It just seemed like more of a priority to take care of my sick boyfriend.
So today, b/c we didn't leave for vegas b/c of Erik's cold, I had the chance to do both a run and swim. 50 minutes run/walk and then several hours later, I had a brain fart that caused me to think working out twice in one day would be smart.
D and I went and actually, I'm glad we did. I did 1000 meters, which actually is the distance of the swim in the triathlon...of course, I took 5 minutes between laps and put my feet down a lot, but i'm on my way.
Oddly, I feel energized. Who knew this whole "exercise" thing could work like that. :)
So today, b/c we didn't leave for vegas b/c of Erik's cold, I had the chance to do both a run and swim. 50 minutes run/walk and then several hours later, I had a brain fart that caused me to think working out twice in one day would be smart.
D and I went and actually, I'm glad we did. I did 1000 meters, which actually is the distance of the swim in the triathlon...of course, I took 5 minutes between laps and put my feet down a lot, but i'm on my way.
Oddly, I feel energized. Who knew this whole "exercise" thing could work like that. :)
I love my swimsuit
Really, i do. I know that it's not about looking cute, but well, it is.
My bathing suit is REVERSIBLE...teal on one side, lime green on the other.
I had only worn the teal side thus far.
Today I switched to lime green.
It was refreshing.
My bathing suit is REVERSIBLE...teal on one side, lime green on the other.
I had only worn the teal side thus far.
Today I switched to lime green.
It was refreshing.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Day 4 - I wonder...
.....how many world-class triathletes do their workout and then come home and eat a bowl of cereal and reeses peanut butter cups.
Maybe i'm onto something here..... :)
Had my first run, as directed -- 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking -- 30 minutes total. It's a start. Used the treadmill, to save the old creaky knees -- they were only mildly creaky today. There's hope yet.
Maybe i'm onto something here..... :)
Had my first run, as directed -- 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking -- 30 minutes total. It's a start. Used the treadmill, to save the old creaky knees -- they were only mildly creaky today. There's hope yet.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
First Swim Practice!
Tonight was my first swim practice (of all time...not just this endeavor). I was pretty nervous beforehand, but also excited. My friend Jillian from school prepped me on keeping my hair in good shape (basically, there's no hope), and dealing with body image issues (yell 'hey look, it's ELVIS!', then make a mad dash for the pool.)
I had my gear -- a pretty cool reversible teal/lime green swimsuit, pink speedo goggles, and a grey silicone cap. I felt like those women that show up to tennis clubs on the weekend with all the latest gear and matching outfits and then proceed to whiff every other ball coming at them. In other words, a nice suit does not a swimmer make...though it was part of my strategy -- act 'as if' right?
Everyone was really really nice -- I got to talking with a few people right away, including our Honoroed Teammate Megan who got diagnosed with Hodgkins WHILE training for her first one last year -- the irony. I also found Christy, who I'd met at the kickoff saturday, and she too had gone out and purchased a suit after that event -- the same one as me. And the same goggles. Apparently, a wide assortment of suits/eyewear doesn't exist in the west LA area, but it IS a relatively cute suit for sports swimming so i forgive us. :)
After a demo, we chose lanes, from the advanced ones (to the left) down to remedial all the way on the right. Guess where I put myself. Later I determined that some natural athletic abilities at LEAST warrants a stay in the second lane from the right, so I promoted myself. The first practice was mostly just balance exercises across the pool...no arms, just floating and kicking with our faces tilted up out of the water. It felt good, light, and peaceful. I was pretty psyched for the first attempt.
Getting home, i felt a fatigue and dizziness that seemed odd for just a few passes back and forth in the pool...but some good ole stir fry and a sting on the couch watching america idol, i was back to normal and ready for the next time!
*update* omg, getting up the morning after was rough! But plans for a swim with my friend Dahna this afternoon regardless. :)
I had my gear -- a pretty cool reversible teal/lime green swimsuit, pink speedo goggles, and a grey silicone cap. I felt like those women that show up to tennis clubs on the weekend with all the latest gear and matching outfits and then proceed to whiff every other ball coming at them. In other words, a nice suit does not a swimmer make...though it was part of my strategy -- act 'as if' right?
Everyone was really really nice -- I got to talking with a few people right away, including our Honoroed Teammate Megan who got diagnosed with Hodgkins WHILE training for her first one last year -- the irony. I also found Christy, who I'd met at the kickoff saturday, and she too had gone out and purchased a suit after that event -- the same one as me. And the same goggles. Apparently, a wide assortment of suits/eyewear doesn't exist in the west LA area, but it IS a relatively cute suit for sports swimming so i forgive us. :)
After a demo, we chose lanes, from the advanced ones (to the left) down to remedial all the way on the right. Guess where I put myself. Later I determined that some natural athletic abilities at LEAST warrants a stay in the second lane from the right, so I promoted myself. The first practice was mostly just balance exercises across the pool...no arms, just floating and kicking with our faces tilted up out of the water. It felt good, light, and peaceful. I was pretty psyched for the first attempt.
Getting home, i felt a fatigue and dizziness that seemed odd for just a few passes back and forth in the pool...but some good ole stir fry and a sting on the couch watching america idol, i was back to normal and ready for the next time!
*update* omg, getting up the morning after was rough! But plans for a swim with my friend Dahna this afternoon regardless. :)
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